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A looming crisis over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is posing a risk to Israel's government and fracturing the state.

The public mood on the matter has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of hostilities, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political challenge facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Conflict

Legislators are currently considering a draft bill to terminate the deferment given to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in yeshiva learning, established when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

The deferment was struck down by Israel's High Court of Justice two decades ago. Interim measures to maintain it were officially terminated by the judiciary last year, compelling the cabinet to commence conscription of the community.

Approximately 24,000 draft notices were delivered last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts enlisted, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Strains Spill Into Public View

Tensions are erupting onto the city centers, with parliamentarians now discussing a new draft bill to compel yeshiva students into national service in the same way as other secular Israelis.

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

Recently, a elite police squad had to assist enforcement personnel who were attacked by a large crowd of Haredi men as they tried to arrest a alleged conscription dodger.

Such incidents have led to the development of a new alert system named "Emergency Alert" to send out instant alerts through the religious sector and summon demonstrators to prevent arrests from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," stated an activist. "You can't fight against religious practice in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It is a contradiction."

A Realm Separate

But the transformations blowing through Israel have failed to penetrate the environment of the religious seminary in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, young students learn in partnerships to discuss Judaism's religious laws, their vividly colored writing books contrasting with the lines of white shirts and small black kippahs.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see half the guys are pursuing religious study," the leader of the yeshiva, the spiritual guide, noted. "Through religious study, we safeguard the soldiers on the front lines. This is how we contribute."

Haredi Jews maintain that constant study and Torah learning defend Israel's military, and are as crucial to its security as its conventional forces. This tenet was endorsed by the nation's leaders in the past, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that public attitudes are shifting.

Growing Public Pressure

The ultra-Orthodox population has more than doubled its proportion of the country's people over the last seventy years, and now represents around one in seven. An exemption that started as an exception for a small number of yeshiva attendees became, by the onset of the recent conflict, a body of approximately 60,000 men left out of the national service.

Surveys suggest approval of ultra-Orthodox conscription is rising. A survey in July found that 85% of secular and traditional Jews - encompassing a significant majority in his own coalition allies - favored penalties for those who declined a enlistment summons, with a firm majority in supporting withdrawing benefits, passports, or the franchise.

"I feel there are people who reside in this country without contributing," one military member in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, no matter how devout, [it] should be an excuse not to fulfill your duty to your state," added a Tel Aviv resident. "If you're born here, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Views from the Heart of a Religious City

Backing for ending the exemption is also coming from observant Jews not part of the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who resides close to the seminary and highlights religious Zionists who do perform national service while also studying Torah.

"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 proverb in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it means the Torah and the defense together. That's the way forward, until the arrival of peace."

Ms Barak manages a small memorial in her city to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were killed in battle. Long columns of faces {