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A gathering political storm over conscripting Haredi men into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine the governing coalition and splitting the state.

Public opinion on the question has changed profoundly in Israel following two years of war, and this is now arguably the most divisive political challenge facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Battle

Politicians are now debating a piece of legislation to end the special status awarded to yeshiva scholars engaged in full-time religious study, established when the State of Israel was founded in 1948.

The deferment was struck down by Israel's High Court of Justice almost 20 years ago. Stopgap solutions to maintain it were finally concluded by the bench last year, compelling the government to begin drafting the Haredi sector.

Some 24,000 draft notices were issued last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts reported for duty, according to army data given to lawmakers.

Friction Boil Over Into Violence

Friction is spilling onto the streets, with elected officials now discussing a new draft bill to require Haredi males into army duty alongside other secular Israelis.

Two representatives were confronted this month by hardline activists, who are incensed with the legislative debate of the proposed law.

And last week, a special Border Police unit had to extract enforcement personnel who were attacked by a sizeable mob of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they attempted to detain a alleged conscription dodger.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new alert system dubbed "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through the religious sector and call out demonstrators to block enforcement from taking place.

"We're a Jewish country," stated Shmuel Orbach. "It's impossible to battle Judaism in a Jewish country. It is a contradiction."

An Environment Set Aside

But the changes blowing through Israel have not yet breached the environment of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in a Haredi stronghold, an ultra-Orthodox city on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, teenage boys study together to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their vividly colored notepads popping against the lines of white shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see many of the students are studying Torah," the leader of the academy, a senior rabbi, noted. "Through religious study, we shield the military personnel in the field. This constitutes our service."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that unceasing devotion and religious study protect Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its military success as its advanced weaponry. That belief was endorsed by previous governments in the earlier decades, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Rising Public Pressure

The Haredi community has more than doubled its proportion of Israel's population over the since the state's founding, and now represents a sizable minority. A policy that originated as an exemption for a few hundred Torah scholars turned into, by the start of the recent conflict, a body of some 60,000 men exempt from the conscription.

Surveys indicate approval of ultra-Orthodox conscription is growing. A survey in July revealed that 85% of the broader Jewish public - encompassing a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - favored sanctions for those who refused a draft order, with a solid consensus in supporting cutting state subsidies, travel documents, or the franchise.

"I feel there are citizens who reside in this country without serving," one serviceman in Tel Aviv said.

"I don't think, however religious you are, [it] should be an reason not to perform service your country," stated Gabby. "As a citizen by birth, I find it rather absurd that you want to avoid service just to engage in religious study all day."

Views from Within Bnei Brak

Advocacy of ending the exemption is also found among religious Jews beyond the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who is a neighbor of the academy and points to religious Zionists who do perform national service while also engaging in religious study.

"I'm very angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't enlist," she said. "It's unfair. I also believe in the Torah, but there's a teaching in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it means the scripture and the guns together. That is the path, until the messianic era."

The resident runs a local tribute in her city to soldiers from the area, both religious and secular, who were fallen in war. Lines of faces {