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An impending crisis over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israel Defense Forces is threatening to undermine the administration and splitting the state.

Popular sentiment on the question has shifted dramatically in Israel following two years of conflict, and this is now possibly the most explosive political issue facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Battle

Legislators are reviewing a piece of legislation to end the special status awarded to yeshiva scholars engaged in yeshiva learning, instituted when the State of Israel was established in 1948.

This arrangement was ruled illegal by the nation's top court in the early 2000s. Temporary arrangements to extend it were finally concluded by the judiciary last year, pressuring the cabinet to start enlisting the community.

Approximately 24,000 call-up papers were delivered last year, but just approximately 1,200 men from the community enlisted, according to military testimony shared with lawmakers.

Strains Boil Over Onto the Streets

Tensions are erupting onto the streets, with lawmakers now discussing a new legislative proposal to compel yeshiva students into army duty together with other Israeli Jews.

Two Haredi politicians were confronted this month by radical elements, who are enraged with the legislative debate of the bill.

Recently, a specialized force had to extract army police who were attacked by a large crowd of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they attempted to detain a man avoiding service.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new communication network called "Emergency Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through the religious sector and call out protesters to prevent arrests from taking place.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," remarked Shmuel Orbach. "One cannot oppose Judaism in a Jewish country. It is a contradiction."

A Realm Set Aside

Yet the shifts blowing through Israel have failed to penetrate the environment of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak, an religious community on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, young students sit in pairs to debate Judaism's religious laws, their brightly coloured writing books standing out against the rows of formal attire and traditional skullcaps.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see a significant portion are engaged in learning," the leader of the academy, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, noted. "Via dedicated learning, we shield the military personnel wherever they are. This constitutes our service."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit protect Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its defense as its advanced weaponry. This tenet was accepted by Israel's politicians in the past, the rabbi said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Growing Popular Demand

The Haredi community has grown substantially its percentage of Israel's population over the last seventy years, and now accounts for a sizable minority. An exemption that started as an exemption for a small number of religious students became, by the beginning of the recent conflict, a cohort of some 60,000 men not subject to the draft.

Surveys show approval of drafting the Haredim is rising. Research in July found that 85% of the broader Jewish public - even almost three-quarters in the Prime Minister's political base - supported sanctions for those who refused a draft order, with a firm majority in supporting cutting state subsidies, travel documents, or the electoral participation.

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

"It is my belief, no matter how devout, [it] should be an excuse not to fulfill your duty to your country," stated a Tel Aviv resident. "If you're born here, I find it rather absurd that you want to exempt yourself just to engage in religious study all day."

Voices from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Support for ending the exemption is also coming from observant Jews not part of the Haredi community, like one local resident, who resides close to the seminary and points to religious Zionists who do serve in the military while also studying Torah.

"I am frustrated that this community don't perform military service," she said. "This creates inequality. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it means the scripture and the weapons together. That is the path, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak maintains a modest remembrance site in her city to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were fallen in war. Long columns of photographs {