A Major Crisis Approaches in Israel Concerning Ultra-Orthodox Military Draft Proposal

A gathering crisis over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is jeopardizing the governing coalition and fracturing the nation.

The public mood on the issue has shifted dramatically in Israel in the wake of two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political risk facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Struggle

Politicians are currently considering a piece of legislation to end the special status awarded to Haredi students dedicated to yeshiva learning, created when the modern Israel was founded in 1948.

The deferment was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court almost 20 years ago. Stopgap solutions to continue it were officially terminated by the judiciary last year, compelling the cabinet to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Some 24,000 draft notices were delivered last year, but only around 1,200 Haredi conscripts enlisted, according to military testimony presented to lawmakers.

Tensions Boil Over Into Public View

Strains are boiling over onto the streets, with parliamentarians now debating a new conscription law to compel Haredi males into national service together with other Israeli Jews.

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

In a recent incident, a elite police squad had to extract enforcement personnel who were targeted by a sizeable mob of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a suspected draft-evader.

These arrests have led to the development of a new messaging system called "Black Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and call out activists to block enforcement from occurring.

"We're a Jewish country," stated one protester. "You can't fight against the Jewish faith in a Jewish country. It is a contradiction."

A World Separate

However the shifts affecting Israel have not reached the environment of the religious seminary in an ultra-Orthodox city, an Haredi enclave on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, teenage boys study together to discuss the Torah, their vividly colored notepads popping against the rows of white shirts and head coverings.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see a significant portion are studying Torah," the head of the seminary, a senior rabbi, explained. "By studying Torah, we protect the military personnel wherever they are. This is how we contribute."

The community holds that constant study and religious study defend Israel's military, and are as essential to its military success as its conventional forces. That belief was acknowledged by Israel's politicians in the earlier decades, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that the nation is evolving.

Increasing Public Pressure

The ultra-Orthodox population has grown substantially its proportion of the country's people over the past seven decades, and now represents 14%. A policy that originated as an exception for a small number of religious students evolved into, by the beginning of the 2023 war, a body of tens of thousands of men not subject to the draft.

Surveys indicate backing for drafting the Haredim is growing. A poll in July showed that 85% of the broader Jewish public - even a significant majority in the Prime Minister's political base - favored penalties for those who ignored a call-up notice, with a clear majority in supporting removing privileges, passports, or the right to vote.

"I feel there are individuals who are part of this nation without serving," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv explained.

"In my view, however religious you are, [it] should be an justification not to fulfill your duty to your nation," said a Tel Aviv resident. "If you're born here, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Voices from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Support for ending the exemption is also coming from traditional Jews outside the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who resides close to the academy and points to religious Zionists who do enlist in the army while also engaging in religious study.

"I am frustrated that this community don't enlist," she said. "It's unfair. I too follow the Torah, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the Torah and the weapons together. This is the correct approach, until the messianic era."

The resident maintains a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to fallen servicemen, both observant and non-observant, who were lost in conflict. Rows of images {