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A gathering crisis over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is threatening to undermine the administration and fracturing the country.

Popular sentiment on the matter has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of conflict, and this is now arguably the most divisive political issue facing the Prime Minister.

The Judicial Struggle

Lawmakers are now debating a draft bill to terminate the special status awarded to yeshiva scholars dedicated to Torah study, established when the the nation was established in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by the nation's top court in the early 2000s. Stopgap solutions to maintain it were formally ended by the bench last year, forcing the cabinet to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Roughly 24,000 draft notices were delivered last year, but merely about 1,200 men from the community reported for duty, according to army data shared with lawmakers.

Friction Boil Over Into Violence

Tensions are erupting onto the city centers, with lawmakers now debating a new draft bill to compel ultra-Orthodox men into military service alongside other Jewish citizens.

Two representatives were confronted this month by hardline activists, who are incensed with the legislative debate of the draft legislation.

Recently, a elite police squad had to rescue army police who were targeted by a sizeable mob of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they attempted to detain a man avoiding service.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new alert system called "Black Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through Haredi neighborhoods and mobilize protesters to stop detentions from taking place.

"We're a Jewish country," said an activist. "One cannot oppose the Jewish faith in a Jewish country. That is untenable."

A World Set Aside

Yet the changes affecting Israel have failed to penetrate the environment of the religious seminary in an ultra-Orthodox city, an religious community on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, scholars learn in partnerships to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their distinctive writing books standing out against the lines of light-colored shirts and small black kippahs.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see half the guys are studying Torah," the head of the academy, a senior rabbi, noted. "Via dedicated learning, we shield the military personnel wherever they are. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that unceasing devotion and Torah learning defend Israel's soldiers, and are as vital to its military success as its conventional forces. That belief was accepted by previous governments in the past, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that public attitudes are shifting.

Rising Public Pressure

The Haredi community has more than doubled its percentage of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now constitutes around one in seven. A policy that originated as an deferment for a few hundred religious students turned into, by the start of the Gaza war, a body of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the conscription.

Opinion polls indicate support for ending the exemption is growing. A survey in July showed that 85% of secular and traditional Jews - including a significant majority in his own coalition allies - favored sanctions for those who declined a draft order, with a clear majority in approving cutting state subsidies, passports, or the franchise.

"It makes me feel there are citizens who live in this nation without giving anything back," one military member in Tel Aviv commented.

"In my view, regardless of piety, [it] should be an reason not to perform service your state," stated a young woman. "If you're born here, I find it rather absurd that you want to avoid service just to study Torah all day."

Views from Inside Bnei Brak

Support for ending the exemption is also coming from religious Jews beyond the Haredi community, like one local resident, who lives near the academy and notes observant but non-Haredi Jews who do enlist in the army while also engaging in religious study.

"I am frustrated that ultra-Orthodox people don't perform military service," she said. "It is unjust. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a teaching in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the scripture and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the arrival of peace."

Ms Barak maintains a local tribute in her city to local soldiers, both observant and non-observant, who were lost in conflict. Rows of images {