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A gathering political storm over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is posing a risk to the administration and splitting the country.

Popular sentiment on the question has changed profoundly in Israel following two years of hostilities, and this is now perhaps the most divisive political issue facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Battle

Legislators are now debating a draft bill to end the deferment given to yeshiva scholars enrolled in yeshiva learning, instituted when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice almost 20 years ago. Stopgap solutions to extend it were formally ended by the judiciary last year, forcing the administration to begin drafting the community.

Roughly 24,000 enlistment orders were delivered last year, but only around 1,200 Haredi conscripts showed up, according to defense officials presented to lawmakers.

Strains Spill Onto the Streets

Tensions are erupting onto the public squares, with lawmakers now debating a new draft bill to force ultra-Orthodox men into army duty in the same way as other Jewish citizens.

Two representatives were harassed this month by radical elements, who are enraged with the legislative debate of the proposed law.

In a recent incident, a special Border Police unit had to assist enforcement personnel who were surrounded by a sizeable mob of community members as they sought to apprehend a man avoiding service.

These arrests have led to the development of a new communication network named "Dark Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through Haredi neighborhoods and summon demonstrators to prevent arrests from happening.

"This is a Jewish state," stated Shmuel Orbach. "One cannot oppose the Jewish faith in a Jewish state. That is untenable."

An Environment Set Aside

However the transformations affecting Israel have not reached the environment of the religious seminary in an ultra-Orthodox city, an religious community on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, scholars study together to analyze Jewish law, their brightly coloured writing books standing out against the seats of light-colored shirts and head coverings.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see many of the students are studying Torah," the dean of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, said. "By studying Torah, we safeguard the military personnel in the field. This is how we contribute."

Haredi Jews maintain that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit protect Israel's armed forces, and are as essential to its defense as its conventional forces. That belief was endorsed by Israel's politicians in the earlier decades, the rabbi said, but he acknowledged that public attitudes are shifting.

Increasing Public Pressure

The Haredi community has significantly increased its share of the country's people over the since the state's founding, and now accounts for around one in seven. What began as an exemption for a few hundred religious students turned into, by the start of the recent conflict, a body of some 60,000 men not subject to the conscription.

Surveys show approval of ultra-Orthodox conscription is rising. A poll in July showed that 85% of secular and traditional Jews - encompassing a large segment in his own coalition allies - favored consequences for those who ignored a draft order, with a clear majority in approving withdrawing benefits, passports, or the right to vote.

"It seems to me there are individuals who reside in this country without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, no matter how devout, [it] should be an excuse not to perform service your state," said a young woman. "Being a native, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to avoid service just to study Torah all day."

Views from Within Bnei Brak

Backing for extending the draft is also found among traditional Jews beyond the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who is a neighbor of the seminary and notes religious Zionists who do serve in the military while also studying Torah.

"It makes me angry that the Haredim don't serve in the army," she said. "It is unjust. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a proverb in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it means the scripture and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the messianic era."

She manages a modest remembrance site in the neighborhood to soldiers from the area, both observant and non-observant, who were killed in battle. Lines of images {