A Crisis Looms in Israel Concerning Haredi Military Draft Legislation

A gathering political storm over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is threatening to undermine the administration and fracturing the country.

The public mood on the matter has shifted dramatically in Israel following two years of hostilities, and this is now possibly the most volatile political issue facing the Prime Minister.

The Judicial Struggle

Legislators are reviewing a piece of legislation to terminate the deferment given to Haredi students engaged in Torah study, established when the the nation was established in 1948.

The deferment was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice almost 20 years ago. Interim measures to maintain it were officially terminated by the bench last year, compelling the administration to commence conscription of the ultra-Orthodox population.

Some 24,000 enlistment orders were delivered last year, but merely about 1,200 men from the community showed up, according to defense officials shared with lawmakers.

Friction Spill Into Public View

Tensions are erupting onto the public squares, with elected officials now discussing a new draft bill to force Haredi males into army duty together with other Jewish citizens.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were confronted this month by radical elements, who are enraged with parliament's discussion of the proposed law.

Recently, a specialized force had to rescue army police who were surrounded by a large crowd of community members as they sought to apprehend a suspected draft-evader.

These enforcement actions have sparked the creation of a new messaging system called "Emergency Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through ultra-Orthodox communities and summon demonstrators to prevent arrests from happening.

"This is a Jewish state," remarked Shmuel Orbach. "It's impossible to battle Judaism in a Jewish country. That is untenable."

A Realm Separate

However the shifts sweeping across Israel have not yet breached the walls of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak, an religious community on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, young students study together to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their brightly coloured school notebooks standing out against the lines of white shirts and head coverings.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see many of the students are engaged in learning," the leader of the seminary, a senior rabbi, noted. "By studying Torah, we safeguard the military personnel on the front lines. This is our army."

The community holds that unceasing devotion and religious study defend Israel's armed forces, and are as essential to its security as its tanks and air force. This conviction was endorsed by Israel's politicians in the earlier decades, he said, but he conceded that the nation is evolving.

Increasing Public Pressure

The Haredi community has more than doubled its percentage of Israel's population over the since the state's founding, and now constitutes a sizable minority. What began as an exception for a small number of religious students turned into, by the start of the recent conflict, a group of tens of thousands of men exempt from the national service.

Surveys suggest support for ultra-Orthodox conscription is growing. A survey in July revealed that 85% of non-Haredi Jews - including a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - supported consequences for those who ignored a enlistment summons, with a firm majority in supporting withdrawing benefits, the right to travel, or the right to vote.

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

"In my view, however religious you are, [it] should be an reason not to go and serve your nation," added a Tel Aviv resident. "Being a native, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to exempt yourself just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Voices from Inside a Religious City

Backing for ending the exemption is also coming from observant Jews outside the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who is a neighbor of the academy and points to observant but non-Haredi Jews who do serve in the military while also maintaining their faith.

"I am frustrated that this community don't serve in the army," she said. "It's unfair. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it means the Torah and the guns together. This is the correct approach, until the days of peace."

She maintains a local tribute in the neighborhood to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were fallen in war. Long columns of photographs {