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An impending political storm over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is jeopardizing the governing coalition and splitting the state.

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

The Judicial Struggle

Lawmakers are now debating a proposal to terminate the exemption awarded to yeshiva scholars engaged in yeshiva learning, instituted when the modern Israel was founded in 1948.

That exemption was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court almost 20 years ago. Interim measures to maintain it were finally concluded by the court last year, compelling the government to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Some 24,000 call-up papers were sent out last year, but just approximately 1,200 Haredi conscripts reported for duty, according to military testimony shared with lawmakers.

Friction Erupt Into Public View

Friction is spilling onto the public squares, with elected officials now debating a new draft bill to force Haredi males into military service in the same way as other Jewish citizens.

Two representatives were confronted this month by radical elements, who are enraged with the Knesset's deliberations of the proposed law.

In a recent incident, a specialized force had to assist army police who were targeted by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they tried to arrest a man avoiding service.

Such incidents have led to the development of a new communication network named "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through ultra-Orthodox communities and summon demonstrators to block enforcement from occurring.

"This is a Jewish state," remarked one protester. "You can't fight against religious practice in a nation founded on Jewish identity. That is untenable."

An Environment Set Aside

However the changes affecting Israel have not yet breached the environment of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak, an religious community on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, young students sit in pairs to debate Jewish law, their distinctive school notebooks contrasting with the rows of light-colored shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see half the guys are engaged in learning," the leader of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, said. "Via dedicated learning, we shield the military personnel on the front lines. This is our army."

The community holds that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit guard Israel's armed forces, and are as vital to its military success as its tanks and air force. This tenet was accepted by the nation's leaders in the previous eras, the rabbi said, but he conceded that the nation is evolving.

Growing Popular Demand

The ultra-Orthodox population has grown substantially its proportion of the country's people over the since the state's founding, and now constitutes around one in seven. What began as an deferment for a few hundred religious students turned into, by the onset of the Gaza war, a group of some 60,000 men not subject to the draft.

Surveys suggest approval of ending the exemption is growing. A poll in July showed that a large majority of the broader Jewish public - encompassing a significant majority in the Prime Minister's political base - backed consequences for those who declined a draft order, with a firm majority in supporting withdrawing benefits, passports, or the right to vote.

"I feel there are people who live in this nation without serving," one military member in Tel Aviv explained.

"In my view, no matter how devout, [it] should be an excuse not to fulfill your duty to your country," stated Gabby. "If you're born here, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to exempt yourself just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Voices from the Heart of the Community

Support for extending the draft is also coming from religious Jews beyond the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who lives near the academy and points to non-Haredi religious Jews who do perform national service while also engaging in religious study.

"It makes me angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't enlist," she said. "It's unfair. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a proverb in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it means the scripture and the weapons together. That is the path, until the arrival of peace."

Ms Barak maintains a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to soldiers from the area, both from all backgrounds, who were fallen in war. Lines of faces {