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An impending crisis over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is threatening to undermine the administration and fracturing the country.

The public mood on the question has undergone a sea change in Israel after two years of conflict, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political issue facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Conflict

Legislators are reviewing a piece of legislation to abolish the exemption awarded to yeshiva scholars dedicated to yeshiva learning, instituted when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

That exemption was struck down by the nation's top court in the early 2000s. Interim measures to continue it were officially terminated by the judiciary last year, pressuring the cabinet to commence conscription of the Haredi sector.

Approximately 24,000 call-up papers were delivered last year, but only around 1,200 Haredi conscripts reported for duty, according to army data shared with lawmakers.

Tensions Erupt Onto the Streets

Tensions are erupting onto the public squares, with parliamentarians now discussing a new conscription law to require Haredi males into military service in the same way as other Israeli Jews.

Two representatives were confronted this month by radical elements, who are furious with the Knesset's deliberations of the draft legislation.

In a recent incident, a specialized force had to rescue army police who were surrounded by a large crowd of Haredi men as they sought to apprehend a man avoiding service.

These enforcement actions have sparked the creation of a new communication network called "Dark Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through ultra-Orthodox communities and mobilize activists to stop detentions from happening.

"We're a Jewish country," said an activist. "It's impossible to battle religious practice in a Jewish state. It is a contradiction."

A World Apart

Yet the shifts sweeping across Israel have not yet breached the environment of the Torah academy in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, young students learn in partnerships to discuss the Torah, their distinctive notepads popping against the lines of light-colored shirts and small black kippahs.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see half the guys are engaged in learning," the head of the seminary, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, explained. "By studying Torah, we safeguard the soldiers wherever they are. This is how we contribute."

The community holds that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit guard Israel's military, and are as essential to its military success as its advanced weaponry. That belief was acknowledged by the nation's leaders in the past, the rabbi said, but he admitted that the nation is evolving.

Growing Popular Demand

This religious sector has grown substantially its percentage of the country's people over the last seventy years, and now constitutes 14%. A policy that originated as an exemption for a small number of yeshiva attendees turned into, by the beginning of the recent conflict, a cohort of approximately 60,000 men not subject to the national service.

Surveys indicate backing for drafting the Haredim is increasing. A poll in July revealed that an overwhelming percentage of secular and traditional Jews - encompassing almost three-quarters in the Prime Minister's political base - favored consequences for those who ignored a call-up notice, with a solid consensus in supporting removing privileges, the right to travel, or the electoral participation.

"I feel there are individuals who live in this nation without contributing," one military member in Tel Aviv said.

"I don't think, no matter how devout, [it] should be an reason not to fulfill your duty to your nation," stated a young woman. "If you're born here, I find it rather absurd that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Voices from Within Bnei Brak

Support for broadening conscription is also found among observant Jews beyond the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who is a neighbor of the seminary and notes religious Zionists who do perform national service while also studying Torah.

"I'm very angry that the Haredim don't perform military service," she said. "This creates inequality. I too follow the Torah, but there's a proverb in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the Torah and the guns together. This is the correct approach, until the days of peace."

The resident maintains a modest remembrance site in her city to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Rows of faces {