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A looming political storm over conscripting Haredi men into the Israeli army is jeopardizing the administration and fracturing the nation.

The public mood on the question has changed profoundly in Israel following two years of war, and this is now possibly the most explosive political risk facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Conflict

Lawmakers are currently considering a piece of legislation to terminate the special status awarded to ultra-Orthodox men engaged in full-time religious study, created when the the nation was established in 1948.

This arrangement was ruled illegal by the nation's top court almost 20 years ago. Interim measures to maintain it were formally ended by the judiciary last year, forcing the cabinet to begin drafting the Haredi sector.

Some 24,000 call-up papers were issued last year, but only around 1,200 men from the community reported for duty, according to defense officials presented to lawmakers.

Friction Boil Over Onto the Streets

Tensions are erupting onto the streets, with parliamentarians now debating a new legislative proposal to force Haredi males into military service alongside other secular Israelis.

Two Haredi politicians were targeted this month by radical elements, who are enraged with the legislative debate of the draft legislation.

Recently, a elite police squad had to rescue Military Police officers who were surrounded by a sizeable mob of community members as they attempted to detain a alleged conscription dodger.

These arrests have prompted the establishment of a new communication network called "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through the religious sector and call out protesters to prevent arrests from taking place.

"This is a Jewish state," remarked one protester. "One cannot oppose the Jewish faith in a Jewish country. It is a contradiction."

An Environment Separate

Yet the changes sweeping across Israel have failed to penetrate the environment of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in an ultra-Orthodox city, an Haredi enclave on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, teenage boys learn in partnerships to debate the Torah, their brightly coloured notepads popping against the rows of light-colored shirts and small black kippahs.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see many of the students are studying Torah," the head of the seminary, the spiritual guide, noted. "By studying Torah, we safeguard the troops wherever they are. This constitutes our service."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and religious study defend Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its security as its conventional forces. That belief was accepted by the nation's leaders in the past, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that Israel was changing.

Increasing Societal Anger

The ultra-Orthodox population has grown substantially its percentage of the country's people over the since the state's founding, and now represents 14%. A policy that originated as an exemption for several hundred religious students became, by the start of the Gaza war, a cohort of tens of thousands of men exempt from the conscription.

Surveys show backing for ending the exemption is rising. A poll in July showed that a large majority of secular and traditional Jews - including a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - backed penalties for those who refused a draft order, with a solid consensus in approving removing privileges, travel documents, or the right to vote.

"It makes me feel there are people who reside in this nation without serving," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, regardless of piety, [it] should be an justification not to perform service your nation," stated a Tel Aviv resident. "Being a native, I find it rather absurd that you want to exempt yourself just to engage in religious study all day."

Views from Within a Religious City

Support for broadening conscription is also expressed by observant Jews outside the ultra-Orthodox sector, like one local resident, who resides close to the seminary and notes religious Zionists who do enlist in the army while also engaging in religious study.

"I am frustrated that this community don't perform military service," she said. "This creates inequality. I too follow the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the Torah and the defense together. That is the path, until the days of peace."

She runs a local tribute in her city to fallen servicemen, both from all backgrounds, who were killed in battle. Long columns of faces {