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A looming political storm over enlisting Haredi men into the Israeli army is jeopardizing Israel's government and splitting the country.

Popular sentiment on the issue has undergone a sea change in Israel in the wake of two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most volatile political issue facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Conflict

Politicians are now debating a proposal to end the special status granted to yeshiva scholars dedicated to full-time religious study, instituted when the the nation was founded in 1948.

That exemption was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court two decades ago. Interim measures to maintain it were finally concluded by the court last year, pressuring the administration to start enlisting the Haredi sector.

Roughly 24,000 draft notices were issued last year, but just approximately 1,200 Haredi conscripts showed up, according to defense officials presented to lawmakers.

Tensions Spill Into Public View

Friction is spilling onto the public squares, with parliamentarians now deliberating a new legislative proposal to force Haredi males into army duty together with other secular Israelis.

Two representatives were harassed this month by radical elements, who are furious with parliament's discussion of the proposed law.

Recently, a elite police squad had to rescue enforcement personnel who were attacked by a large crowd of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they tried to arrest a man avoiding service.

Such incidents have sparked the creation of a new alert system named "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and summon demonstrators to block enforcement from occurring.

"This is a Jewish state," stated Shmuel Orbach. "One cannot oppose religious practice in a Jewish state. That is untenable."

An Environment Separate

Yet the changes affecting Israel have not reached the environment of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in a Haredi stronghold, an Haredi enclave on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, young students learn in partnerships to analyze Jewish law, their distinctive notepads contrasting with the seats of light-colored shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see half the guys are pursuing religious study," the leader of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, said. "Through religious study, we protect the soldiers in the field. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit defend Israel's soldiers, and are as essential to its security as its conventional forces. That belief was accepted by the nation's leaders in the past, he said, but he admitted that public attitudes are shifting.

Rising Popular Demand

The Haredi community has significantly increased its proportion of Israel's population over the since the state's founding, and now constitutes a sizable minority. What began as an exception for a few hundred yeshiva attendees became, by the start of the recent conflict, a cohort of tens of thousands of men exempt from the draft.

Opinion polls suggest backing for ending the exemption is growing. A poll in July found that a large majority of non-Haredi Jews - encompassing almost three-quarters in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - backed sanctions for those who refused a enlistment summons, with a firm majority in supporting cutting state subsidies, passports, or the electoral participation.

"It makes me feel there are individuals who live in this country without contributing," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv commented.

"In my view, however religious you are, [it] should be an justification not to go and serve your country," said a young woman. "Being a native, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to exempt yourself just to engage in religious study all day."

Views from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Advocacy of extending the draft is also found among traditional Jews not part of the ultra-Orthodox sector, like one local resident, who lives near the yeshiva and highlights non-Haredi religious Jews who do perform national service while also engaging in religious study.

"It makes me angry that the Haredim don't enlist," she said. "It's unfair. I too follow the Torah, but there's a saying in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the scripture and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the days of peace."

The resident manages a small memorial in the neighborhood to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were killed in battle. Long columns of faces {