A Major Crisis Approaches in Israel Over Haredi Conscription Legislation

A gathering political storm over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is jeopardizing the governing coalition and dividing the country.

Public opinion on the question has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of conflict, and this is now possibly the most volatile political challenge facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Legal Battle

Politicians are reviewing a piece of legislation to terminate the special status awarded to yeshiva scholars engaged in yeshiva learning, created when the the nation was established in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by the nation's top court in the early 2000s. Interim measures to extend it were finally concluded by the bench last year, pressuring the government to commence conscription of the Haredi sector.

Some 24,000 draft notices were sent out last year, but merely about 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees reported for duty, according to defense officials shared with lawmakers.

Strains Spill Into Violence

Strains are boiling over onto the city centers, with elected officials now deliberating a new draft bill to compel Haredi males into national service together with other secular Israelis.

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

In a recent incident, a specialized force had to extract enforcement personnel who were targeted by a sizeable mob of community members as they tried to arrest a man avoiding service.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new alert system dubbed "Black Alert" to send out instant alerts through the religious sector and mobilize protesters to prevent arrests from taking place.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said one protester. "One cannot oppose the Jewish faith in a nation founded on Jewish identity. That is untenable."

A Realm Set Aside

Yet the changes blowing through Israel have not reached the environment of the religious seminary in a Haredi stronghold, an religious community on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, young students study together to discuss Judaism's religious laws, their brightly coloured writing books contrasting with the seats of light-colored shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see a significant portion are engaged in learning," the head of the seminary, a senior rabbi, said. "By studying Torah, we protect the soldiers in the field. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that constant study and spiritual pursuit protect Israel's soldiers, and are as crucial to its military success as its advanced weaponry. This tenet was endorsed by the nation's leaders in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that public attitudes are shifting.

Rising Public Pressure

The Haredi community has significantly increased its share of Israel's population over the last seventy years, and now represents around one in seven. An exemption that started as an exception for a small number of yeshiva attendees evolved into, by the onset of the recent conflict, a body of some 60,000 men exempt from the national service.

Polling data suggest backing for ending the exemption is rising. A survey in July showed that a large majority of non-Haredi Jews - even a significant majority in his own coalition allies - favored sanctions for those who declined a draft order, with a solid consensus in supporting withdrawing benefits, travel documents, or the electoral participation.

"It seems to me there are citizens who are part of this country without serving," one military member in Tel Aviv commented.

"It is my belief, regardless of piety, [it] should be an justification not to perform service your state," added Gabby. "If you're born here, I find it rather absurd that you want to exempt yourself just to study Torah all day."

Views from Within Bnei Brak

Support for broadening conscription is also found among traditional Jews beyond the ultra-Orthodox sector, like one local resident, who lives near the yeshiva and notes non-Haredi religious Jews who do serve in the military while also maintaining their faith.

"I'm very angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't serve in the army," she said. "This creates inequality. I too follow the Jewish law, but there's a teaching in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it represents the Torah and the weapons together. That's the way forward, until the days of peace."

The resident runs a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Long columns of photographs {