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A gathering political storm over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israel Defense Forces is posing a risk to the administration and splitting the country.

Popular sentiment on the question has shifted dramatically in Israel in the wake of two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political challenge facing the Prime Minister.

The Judicial Struggle

Politicians are now debating a proposal to terminate the exemption given to yeshiva scholars enrolled in yeshiva learning, established when the State of Israel was founded in 1948.

That exemption was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court almost 20 years ago. Interim measures to extend it were finally concluded by the bench last year, pressuring the government to start enlisting the Haredi sector.

Roughly 24,000 call-up papers were delivered last year, but only around 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees enlisted, according to army data shared with lawmakers.

Strains Spill Onto the Streets

Friction is spilling onto the city centers, with lawmakers now debating a new draft bill to compel ultra-Orthodox men into national service alongside other secular Israelis.

Two representatives were targeted this month by radical elements, who are furious with the Knesset's deliberations of the draft legislation.

Recently, a specialized force had to rescue enforcement personnel who were surrounded by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they tried to arrest a man avoiding service.

Such incidents have prompted the establishment of a new messaging system named "Black Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through the religious sector and summon demonstrators to stop detentions from taking place.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," stated Shmuel Orbach. "You can't fight against Judaism in a Jewish country. It doesn't work."

An Environment Set Aside

But the shifts blowing through Israel have not reached the environment of the religious seminary in an ultra-Orthodox city, an Haredi enclave on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, teenage boys learn in partnerships to discuss Jewish law, their brightly coloured notepads standing out against the rows of white shirts and small black kippahs.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see many of the students are engaged in learning," the dean of the academy, a senior rabbi, explained. "By studying Torah, we shield the military personnel wherever they are. This constitutes our service."

Haredi Jews maintain that unceasing devotion and religious study protect Israel's military, and are as vital to its defense as its advanced weaponry. This tenet was accepted by Israel's politicians in the earlier decades, the rabbi said, but he acknowledged that the nation is evolving.

Increasing Societal Anger

The Haredi community has significantly increased its proportion of the country's people over the past seven decades, and now represents around one in seven. What began as an deferment for a few hundred yeshiva attendees evolved into, by the onset of the recent conflict, a cohort of some 60,000 men left out of the draft.

Polling data show backing for ultra-Orthodox conscription is growing. A poll in July found that 85% of the broader Jewish public - encompassing almost three-quarters in the Prime Minister's political base - favored penalties for those who declined a call-up notice, with a solid consensus in supporting cutting state subsidies, passports, or the electoral participation.

"It seems to me there are individuals who live in this nation without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv said.

"In my view, regardless of piety, [it] should be an excuse not to go and serve your nation," added Gabby. "Being a native, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to exempt yourself just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Perspectives from Within the Community

Backing for ending the exemption is also found among religious Jews outside the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who lives near the seminary and highlights observant but non-Haredi Jews who do serve in the military while also maintaining their faith.

"I'm very angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't serve in the army," she said. "This creates inequality. I also believe in the Torah, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the scripture and the defense together. That is the path, until the arrival of peace."

The resident maintains a small memorial in Bnei Brak to local soldiers, both religious and secular, who were fallen in war. Lines of faces {