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A gathering crisis over conscripting Haredi men into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine the administration and fracturing the country.

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

The Judicial Struggle

Politicians are now debating a piece of legislation to terminate the special status awarded to Haredi students enrolled in Torah study, established when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by the nation's top court almost 20 years ago. Stopgap solutions to maintain it were finally concluded by the bench last year, forcing the administration to commence conscription of the community.

Approximately 24,000 draft notices were sent out last year, but only around 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees showed up, according to army data given to lawmakers.

Friction Spill Into Public View

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with lawmakers now discussing a new draft bill to force Haredi males into national service together with other Jewish citizens.

Two Haredi politicians were confronted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are enraged with parliament's discussion of the proposed law.

Recently, a elite police squad had to rescue Military Police officers who were attacked by a big group of community members as they attempted to detain a man avoiding service.

Such incidents have prompted the establishment of a new communication network called "Black Alert" to spread word quickly through ultra-Orthodox communities and call out protesters to block enforcement from taking place.

"We're a Jewish country," remarked one protester. "One cannot oppose religious practice in a Jewish country. It doesn't work."

An Environment Set Aside

However the transformations blowing through Israel have not yet breached the environment of the religious seminary in a Haredi stronghold, an religious community on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, teenage boys learn in partnerships to analyze the Torah, their brightly coloured writing books popping against the lines of white shirts and head coverings.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see a significant portion are studying Torah," the leader of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, explained. "Through religious study, we safeguard the soldiers in the field. This constitutes our service."

The community holds that continuous prayer and religious study defend Israel's soldiers, and are as crucial to its defense as its advanced weaponry. This tenet was endorsed by previous governments in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Rising Societal Anger

This religious sector has more than doubled its share of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now represents around one in seven. What began as an exemption for a small number of yeshiva attendees became, by the beginning of the recent conflict, a cohort of tens of thousands of men exempt from the draft.

Surveys show support for ultra-Orthodox conscription is growing. A survey in July revealed that 85% of non-Haredi Jews - encompassing a significant majority in the Prime Minister's political base - backed consequences for those who refused a draft order, with a firm majority in favor of cutting state subsidies, travel documents, or the right to vote.

"It seems to me there are individuals who reside in this country without contributing," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv said.

"In my view, no matter how devout, [it] should be an excuse not to fulfill your duty to your nation," said a young woman. "Being a native, I find it quite ridiculous 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 found among observant Jews outside the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who resides close to the academy and highlights religious Zionists who do perform national service while also studying Torah.

"It makes me angry that ultra-Orthodox people 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 scripture and the weapons together. This is the correct approach, until the arrival of peace."

She runs a small memorial in her city to fallen servicemen, both observant and non-observant, who were lost in conflict. Rows of faces {