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An impending political storm over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israel Defense Forces is threatening to undermine the governing coalition and fracturing the state.

The public mood on the question has changed profoundly in Israel after two years of war, and this is now arguably the most divisive political challenge facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Conflict

Politicians are currently considering a proposal to abolish the exemption given to yeshiva scholars enrolled in full-time religious study, established when the State of Israel was founded in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice almost 20 years ago. Stopgap solutions to continue it were finally concluded by the court last year, compelling the administration to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

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

Friction Boil Over Into Public View

Friction is spilling onto the city centers, with lawmakers now debating a new conscription law to compel yeshiva students into army duty in the same way as other secular Israelis.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were harassed this month by hardline activists, who are incensed with the legislative debate of the bill.

Recently, a elite police squad had to rescue enforcement personnel who were attacked by a big group of community members as they attempted to detain a suspected draft-evader.

These arrests have prompted the establishment of a new messaging system dubbed "Emergency Alert" to send out instant alerts through the religious sector and call out activists to stop detentions from occurring.

"This is a Jewish state," stated an activist. "You can't fight against religious practice in a Jewish state. It doesn't work."

A Realm Apart

Yet the shifts affecting Israel have not reached the confines of the Torah academy in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, scholars study together to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their distinctive writing books popping against the rows of white shirts and head coverings.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see half the guys are pursuing religious study," the head of the seminary, the spiritual guide, noted. "Through religious study, we protect the military personnel on the front lines. This is how we contribute."

The community holds that constant study and religious study protect Israel's military, and are as essential to its security as its tanks and air force. This tenet was acknowledged by the nation's leaders in the previous eras, the rabbi said, but he acknowledged that public attitudes are shifting.

Growing Public Pressure

The Haredi community has grown substantially its share of Israel's population over the since the state's founding, and now constitutes around one in seven. A policy that originated as an exception for several hundred yeshiva attendees evolved into, by the start of the recent conflict, a cohort of some 60,000 men not subject to the conscription.

Opinion polls suggest approval of ultra-Orthodox conscription is increasing. A poll in July found that 85% of the broader Jewish public - encompassing a large segment in his own coalition allies - favored penalties for those who ignored a enlistment summons, with a solid consensus in approving cutting state subsidies, passports, or the franchise.

"It makes me feel there are citizens who are part of this nation without contributing," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"In my view, regardless of piety, [it] should be an justification not to perform service your country," said a Tel Aviv resident. "Being a native, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to avoid service just to engage in religious study all day."

Views from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Support for ending the exemption is also expressed by religious Jews not part of the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who is a neighbor of the seminary and points to observant but non-Haredi Jews who do perform national service while also studying Torah.

"It makes me angry that this community don't serve in the army," she said. "It is unjust. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it means the scripture and the weapons together. That is the path, until the messianic era."

The resident maintains a local tribute in the neighborhood to local soldiers, both observant and non-observant, who were fallen in war. Lines of faces {