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A gathering crisis over conscripting Haredi men into the military is posing a risk to Israel's government and splitting the state.

The public mood on the issue has shifted dramatically in Israel after two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most volatile political risk facing the Prime Minister.

The Constitutional Conflict

Legislators are reviewing a draft bill to abolish the exemption given to Haredi students engaged in yeshiva learning, created when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

The deferment was declared unconstitutional by the nation's top court almost 20 years ago. Stopgap solutions to maintain it were officially terminated by the court last year, forcing the cabinet to begin drafting the Haredi sector.

Some 24,000 draft notices were sent out last year, but just approximately 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees reported for duty, according to army data presented to lawmakers.

Friction Spill Into Violence

Tensions are erupting onto the public squares, with parliamentarians now deliberating a new legislative proposal to require yeshiva students into military service alongside other Israeli Jews.

Two representatives were harassed this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are incensed with the legislative debate of the bill.

And last week, a specialized force had to assist Military Police officers who were attacked by a sizeable mob of community members as they attempted to detain a suspected draft-evader.

These arrests have prompted the establishment of a new communication network dubbed "Black Alert" to send out instant alerts through the religious sector and call out activists to stop detentions from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," remarked an activist. "You can't fight against religious practice in a Jewish state. It is a contradiction."

A World Separate

But the changes sweeping across Israel have not yet breached the environment of the Torah academy in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, scholars study together to discuss the Torah, their brightly coloured writing books popping against the rows of formal attire and traditional skullcaps.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see a significant portion are pursuing religious study," the dean of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, said. "By studying Torah, we shield the troops on the front lines. This is our army."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit protect Israel's soldiers, and are as essential to its security as its conventional forces. That belief was endorsed by previous governments in the previous eras, the rabbi said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Growing Popular Demand

The Haredi community has significantly increased its proportion of Israel's population over the past seven decades, and now represents a sizable minority. A policy that originated as an deferment for a small number of Torah scholars evolved into, by the onset of the Gaza war, a cohort of some 60,000 men not subject to the draft.

Opinion polls show support for drafting the Haredim is rising. A poll in July found that 85% of non-Haredi Jews - encompassing a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - backed penalties for those who refused a enlistment summons, with a clear majority in approving cutting state subsidies, passports, or the franchise.

"I feel there are individuals who live in this nation without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, however religious you are, [it] should be an excuse not to fulfill your duty to your state," stated a young woman. "If you're born here, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to avoid service just to engage in religious study all day."

Voices from Within a Religious City

Advocacy of ending the exemption is also found among observant Jews not part of the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who resides close to the yeshiva and highlights non-Haredi religious Jews who do serve in the military while also maintaining their faith.

"I am frustrated that this community don't enlist," she said. "It is unjust. I am also committed to the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the Torah and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the arrival of peace."

Ms Barak runs a modest remembrance site in her city to soldiers from the area, both from all backgrounds, who were killed in battle. Lines of faces {