A Crisis Looms in Israel Over Ultra-Orthodox Conscription Bill

A looming crisis over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is posing a risk to Israel's government and fracturing the nation.

The public mood on the question 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 the Prime Minister.

The Legal Conflict

Politicians are now debating a proposal to terminate the deferment granted to ultra-Orthodox men engaged in yeshiva learning, created when the State of Israel was established in 1948.

The deferment was struck down by Israel's High Court of Justice almost 20 years ago. Stopgap solutions to continue it were finally concluded by the court last year, forcing the administration to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Some 24,000 call-up papers were issued last year, but just approximately 1,200 men from the community showed up, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Tensions Boil Over Into Public View

Friction is spilling onto the city centers, with lawmakers now debating a new conscription law to compel Haredi males into military service alongside other Israeli Jews.

Two Haredi politicians were harassed this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are incensed with the Knesset's deliberations of the draft legislation.

Recently, a elite police squad had to rescue enforcement personnel who were attacked by a sizeable mob of community members as they tried to arrest a suspected draft-evader.

Such incidents have prompted the establishment of a new messaging system called "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and call out demonstrators to block enforcement from taking place.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said an activist. "You can't fight against the Jewish faith in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It is a contradiction."

A World Apart

However the changes affecting Israel have not yet breached the environment of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak, an religious community on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, teenage boys study together to analyze Jewish law, their vividly colored notepads contrasting with the seats of light-colored shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see half the guys are engaged in learning," the leader of the seminary, a senior rabbi, explained. "By studying Torah, we shield the soldiers wherever they are. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that constant study and religious study guard Israel's military, and are as essential to its security as its tanks and air force. This tenet was acknowledged by the nation's leaders in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Rising Public Pressure

The Haredi community has significantly increased its share of Israel's population over the since the state's founding, and now accounts for 14%. An exemption that started as an deferment for a small number of Torah scholars turned into, by the beginning of the recent conflict, a group of some 60,000 men exempt from the draft.

Opinion polls suggest approval of ending the exemption is increasing. A survey in July revealed that 85% of non-Haredi Jews - including a large segment in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - backed consequences for those who refused a call-up notice, with a firm majority in supporting removing privileges, travel documents, or the electoral participation.

"It seems to me there are citizens who live in this country without serving," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv explained.

"I don't think, regardless of piety, [it] should be an excuse not to go and serve your nation," added Gabby. "If you're born here, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to avoid service just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Voices from Inside the Community

Backing for extending the draft is also coming from observant Jews outside the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who lives near the yeshiva and points to non-Haredi religious Jews who do enlist in the army while also engaging in religious study.

"It makes me angry that this community don't perform military service," she said. "This creates inequality. I am also committed to the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it represents the Torah and the defense together. That's the way forward, until the days of peace."

The resident manages a local tribute in Bnei Brak to local soldiers, both observant and non-observant, who were killed in battle. Rows of images {