A Major Crisis Looms in Israel Concerning Haredi Conscription Legislation

An impending crisis over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is threatening to undermine Israel's government and fracturing the country.

Public opinion on the issue has shifted dramatically in Israel following two years of war, and this is now arguably the most explosive political risk facing the Prime Minister.

The Judicial Struggle

Legislators are reviewing a piece of legislation to abolish the deferment awarded to Haredi students enrolled in Torah study, created when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

The deferment was struck down by the Supreme Court in the early 2000s. Stopgap solutions to continue it were finally concluded by the court last year, compelling the cabinet to commence conscription of the community.

Some 24,000 draft notices were sent out last year, but only around 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees showed up, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Tensions Spill Into Violence

Friction is spilling onto the public squares, with lawmakers now deliberating a new conscription law to require Haredi males into national service together with other secular Israelis.

Two Haredi politicians were confronted this month by radical elements, who are furious with the legislative debate of the proposed law.

Recently, a specialized force had to extract army police who were attacked by a sizeable mob of Haredi men as they sought to apprehend a alleged conscription dodger.

These arrests have led to the development of a new communication network called "Emergency Alert" to send out instant alerts through Haredi neighborhoods and summon protesters to block enforcement from occurring.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," stated an activist. "It's impossible to battle Judaism in a Jewish country. It doesn't work."

A World Set Aside

However the shifts affecting Israel have not yet breached the environment of the Torah academy in an ultra-Orthodox city, an ultra-Orthodox city on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, teenage boys sit in pairs to discuss Jewish law, their vividly colored notepads standing out against the rows of formal attire and head coverings.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see many of the students are pursuing religious study," the dean of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, said. "Through religious study, we protect the soldiers wherever they are. This is how we contribute."

Haredi Jews maintain that unceasing devotion and religious study protect Israel's soldiers, and are as crucial to its military success as its conventional forces. This conviction was endorsed by the nation's leaders in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he acknowledged that the nation is evolving.

Growing Popular Demand

The ultra-Orthodox population has significantly increased its share of the country's people over the past seven decades, and now represents around one in seven. A policy that originated as an deferment for a few hundred Torah scholars became, by the beginning of the 2023 war, a cohort of tens of thousands of men not subject to the conscription.

Polling data indicate backing for drafting the Haredim is growing. Research in July found that a large majority of the broader Jewish public - including a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - supported sanctions for those who ignored a call-up notice, with a firm majority in approving cutting state subsidies, travel documents, or the electoral participation.

"I feel there are individuals who live in this nation without giving anything back," one military member in Tel Aviv said.

"It is my belief, no matter how devout, [it] should be an excuse not to go and serve your country," said Gabby. "Being a native, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Voices from Within Bnei Brak

Backing for broadening conscription is also expressed by observant Jews beyond the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who is a neighbor of the seminary and highlights observant but non-Haredi Jews who do serve in the military while also studying Torah.

"I am frustrated that the Haredim don't serve in the army," she said. "It's unfair. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it means the scripture and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the days of peace."

She manages a modest remembrance site in her city to soldiers from the area, both from all backgrounds, who were killed in battle. Lines of faces {