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An impending crisis over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is posing a risk to Israel's government and dividing the nation.

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

The Legal Conflict

Legislators are currently considering a piece of legislation to abolish the special status given to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in full-time religious study, created when the State of Israel was declared in 1948.

The deferment was ruled illegal by the nation's top court almost 20 years ago. Temporary arrangements to continue it were officially terminated by the court last year, pressuring the government to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Roughly 24,000 call-up papers were delivered last year, but only around 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees reported for duty, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Tensions Spill Into Public View

Strains are boiling over onto the streets, with lawmakers now deliberating a new legislative proposal to force ultra-Orthodox men into army duty alongside other secular Israelis.

Two representatives were targeted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are enraged with the Knesset's deliberations of the draft legislation.

And last week, a elite police squad had to rescue enforcement personnel who were targeted by a big group of community members as they sought to apprehend a man avoiding service.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new alert system dubbed "Black Alert" to send out instant alerts through ultra-Orthodox communities and summon protesters to prevent arrests from taking place.

"We're a Jewish country," stated Shmuel Orbach. "It's impossible to battle religious practice in a Jewish state. That is untenable."

A World Set Aside

Yet the transformations sweeping across Israel have failed to penetrate the walls of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in a Haredi stronghold, an ultra-Orthodox city on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, young students sit in pairs to analyze Jewish law, their distinctive notepads standing out against the rows of formal attire and small black kippahs.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see a significant portion are engaged in learning," the leader of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, said. "Via dedicated learning, we safeguard the troops wherever they are. This is our army."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and religious study guard Israel's armed forces, and are as vital to its defense as its advanced weaponry. This conviction was accepted by Israel's politicians in the past, he said, but he conceded that the nation is evolving.

Growing Public Pressure

This religious sector has significantly increased its proportion of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now represents around one in seven. A policy that originated as an deferment for several hundred yeshiva attendees evolved into, by the start of the Gaza war, a group of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the conscription.

Polling data indicate support for drafting the Haredim is increasing. A poll in July found that a large majority of non-Haredi Jews - including a significant majority in his own coalition allies - backed sanctions for those who refused a enlistment summons, with a clear majority in supporting removing privileges, passports, or the electoral participation.

"It makes me feel there are citizens who live in this country without serving," one serviceman in Tel Aviv said.

"I don't think, regardless of piety, [it] should be an reason not to go and serve your nation," said a young woman. "As a citizen by birth, I find it rather absurd that you want to avoid service just to engage in religious study all day."

Perspectives from Within a Religious City

Advocacy of broadening conscription is also expressed by traditional Jews not part of the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who lives near the seminary and notes religious Zionists who do serve in the military while also maintaining their faith.

"I'm very angry that this community don't enlist," she said. "This creates inequality. I too follow the Jewish law, but there's a teaching in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it means the scripture and the guns together. That is the path, until the arrival of peace."

Ms Barak manages a small memorial in her city to local soldiers, both observant and non-observant, who were killed in battle. Long columns of photographs {