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An impending crisis over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine Israel's government and fracturing the nation.

Public opinion on the question has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most volatile political risk facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Battle

Politicians are currently considering a proposal to end the deferment awarded to Haredi students enrolled in Torah study, instituted when the the nation was declared in 1948.

This arrangement was struck down by the Supreme Court almost 20 years ago. Stopgap solutions to extend it were formally ended by the court last year, pressuring the cabinet to commence conscription of the Haredi sector.

Roughly 24,000 draft notices were sent out last year, but just approximately 1,200 Haredi conscripts reported for duty, according to army data presented to lawmakers.

Strains Erupt Into Public View

Friction is spilling onto the city centers, with elected officials now deliberating a new conscription law to require yeshiva students into military service in the same way as other Jewish citizens.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were targeted this month by hardline activists, who are enraged with parliament's discussion of the draft legislation.

And last week, a specialized force had to extract army police who were targeted by a sizeable mob of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a suspected draft-evader.

These enforcement actions have prompted the establishment of a new alert system named "Black Alert" to spread word quickly through the religious sector and summon demonstrators to prevent arrests from occurring.

"This is a Jewish state," said Shmuel Orbach. "One cannot oppose the Jewish faith in a Jewish state. It is a contradiction."

An Environment Separate

But the transformations affecting Israel have failed to penetrate the confines of the religious seminary in an ultra-Orthodox city, an Haredi enclave on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, young students study together to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their brightly coloured school notebooks contrasting with the lines of light-colored shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see half the guys are engaged in learning," the dean of the academy, the spiritual guide, explained. "Via dedicated learning, we protect the military personnel wherever they are. This is our army."

Haredi Jews maintain that unceasing devotion and Torah learning defend Israel's military, and are as essential to its defense as its advanced weaponry. This tenet was endorsed by Israel's politicians in the past, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that the nation is evolving.

Growing Societal Anger

The Haredi community has significantly increased its share of the country's people over the past seven decades, and now constitutes 14%. A policy that originated as an exception for a small number of yeshiva attendees evolved into, by the beginning of the recent conflict, a body of approximately 60,000 men left out of the conscription.

Surveys suggest support for drafting the Haredim is growing. A survey in July revealed that a large majority of the broader Jewish public - encompassing a large segment in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - favored consequences for those who declined a call-up notice, with a firm majority in supporting cutting state subsidies, the right to travel, or the right to vote.

"It seems to me there are people who reside in this nation without serving," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv commented.

"In my view, regardless of piety, [it] should be an excuse not to fulfill your duty to your state," added a Tel Aviv resident. "Being a native, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to exempt yourself just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Voices from Inside the Community

Backing for broadening conscription is also expressed by observant Jews not part of the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who resides close to the yeshiva and notes religious Zionists who do enlist in the army while also maintaining their faith.

"It makes me angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't perform military service," she said. "It's unfair. I also believe in the Torah, but there's a saying in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it means the scripture and the weapons together. That is the path, until the arrival of peace."

Ms Barak runs a small memorial in Bnei Brak to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were fallen in war. Lines of images {