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A gathering crisis over drafting Haredi men into the military is posing a risk to the governing coalition and dividing the state.

Popular sentiment on the question has undergone a sea change in Israel after two years of war, and this is now possibly the most explosive political risk facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Struggle

Lawmakers are now debating a proposal to end the deferment granted to yeshiva scholars engaged in Torah study, instituted when the State of Israel was declared in 1948.

This arrangement was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court in the early 2000s. Temporary arrangements to maintain it were officially terminated by the court last year, compelling the administration to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Some 24,000 enlistment orders were issued last year, but just approximately 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees enlisted, according to military testimony shared with lawmakers.

Tensions Erupt Into Violence

Friction is spilling onto the streets, with lawmakers now discussing a new conscription law to force Haredi males into army duty in the same way as other Jewish citizens.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were harassed this month by hardline activists, who are furious with parliament's discussion of the bill.

And last week, a elite police squad had to extract army police who were attacked by a large crowd of community members as they tried to arrest a man avoiding service.

These arrests have prompted the establishment of a new messaging system dubbed "Black Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through the religious sector and call out protesters to block enforcement from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," remarked Shmuel Orbach. "You can't fight against the Jewish faith in a Jewish state. That is untenable."

An Environment Set Aside

But the changes affecting Israel have failed to penetrate the confines of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in a Haredi stronghold, an Haredi enclave on the edge of Tel Aviv.

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

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see a significant portion are studying Torah," the dean of the yeshiva, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, said. "Via dedicated learning, we safeguard the troops on the front lines. This constitutes our service."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit defend Israel's soldiers, and are as crucial to its security as its conventional forces. This conviction was accepted by previous governments in the previous eras, he said, but he admitted that the nation is evolving.

Growing Societal Anger

The Haredi community has significantly increased its percentage of the country's people over the past seven decades, and now represents 14%. A policy that originated as an exemption for a small number of yeshiva attendees evolved into, by the start of the Gaza war, a cohort of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the national service.

Surveys show support for ultra-Orthodox conscription is increasing. A poll in July revealed that 85% of non-Haredi Jews - including a significant majority in the Prime Minister's political base - supported sanctions for those who refused a enlistment summons, with a firm majority in favor of cutting state subsidies, the right to travel, or the right to vote.

"It seems to me there are people who reside in this country without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"It is my belief, however religious you are, [it] should be an excuse not to go and serve your nation," added a young woman. "If you're born here, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to exempt yourself just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Voices from Inside a Religious City

Support for broadening conscription is also expressed by religious Jews beyond the ultra-Orthodox sector, like one local resident, who is a neighbor of the seminary and notes non-Haredi religious Jews who do enlist in the army while also studying Torah.

"It makes me angry that this community don't perform military service," she said. "It is unjust. I too follow the Torah, but there's a teaching in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the scripture and the weapons together. This is the correct approach, until the arrival of peace."

Ms Barak maintains a small memorial in her city to fallen servicemen, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Long columns of images {