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

The public mood on the matter has undergone a sea change in Israel in the wake of two years of conflict, and this is now perhaps the most volatile political risk facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Battle

Lawmakers are currently considering a draft bill to abolish the special status given to ultra-Orthodox men dedicated to yeshiva learning, created when the State of Israel was established in 1948.

That exemption was struck down by the nation's top court in the early 2000s. Temporary arrangements to maintain it were officially terminated by the bench last year, forcing the cabinet to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Approximately 24,000 call-up papers were issued last year, but just approximately 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees reported for duty, according to army data given to lawmakers.

Tensions Erupt Into Violence

Strains are boiling over onto the streets, with elected officials now debating a new conscription law to compel ultra-Orthodox men into national service alongside other Jewish citizens.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were targeted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are incensed with parliament's discussion of the draft legislation.

Recently, a special Border Police unit had to rescue army police who were surrounded by a big group of Haredi men as they sought to apprehend a alleged conscription dodger.

These enforcement actions have prompted the establishment of a new alert system called "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and summon activists to block enforcement from occurring.

"This is a Jewish state," remarked Shmuel Orbach. "It's impossible to battle religious practice in a Jewish country. It doesn't work."

A Realm Set Aside

However the changes blowing through Israel have failed to penetrate the confines of the religious seminary in a Haredi stronghold, an ultra-Orthodox city on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, scholars study together to debate the Torah, their distinctive school notebooks standing out against the rows of light-colored shirts and small black kippahs.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see half the guys are studying Torah," the leader of the academy, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, said. "Via dedicated learning, we safeguard the military personnel in the field. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that unceasing devotion and religious study guard Israel's soldiers, and are as vital to its security as its conventional forces. This conviction was endorsed by previous governments in the earlier decades, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he acknowledged that public attitudes are shifting.

Rising Societal Anger

This religious sector has significantly increased its share of the country's people over the last seventy years, and now accounts for 14%. An exemption that started as an deferment for a few hundred Torah scholars became, by the beginning of the recent conflict, a cohort of tens of thousands of men exempt from the draft.

Polling data show approval of ultra-Orthodox conscription is rising. Research in July found that a large majority of the broader Jewish public - encompassing almost three-quarters in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - supported consequences for those who ignored a call-up notice, with a clear majority in approving removing privileges, the right to travel, or the electoral participation.

"It seems to me there are individuals who are part of this country without serving," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, regardless of piety, [it] should be an excuse not to perform service your country," added Gabby. "As a citizen by birth, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to opt out just to engage in religious study all day."

Voices from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Support for broadening conscription is also coming from observant Jews outside the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who is a neighbor of the yeshiva and notes non-Haredi religious Jews who do serve in the military while also engaging in religious study.

"I'm very angry that the Haredim don't enlist," she said. "It's unfair. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a teaching in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it means the scripture and the defense together. This is the correct approach, until the messianic era."

She maintains a small memorial in the neighborhood to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were killed in battle. Long columns of faces {