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A gathering political storm over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is jeopardizing Israel's government and dividing the nation.

Popular sentiment on the matter has changed profoundly in Israel after two years of hostilities, and this is now possibly the most volatile political challenge facing the Prime Minister.

The Constitutional Battle

Politicians are now debating a draft bill to abolish the deferment awarded to yeshiva scholars dedicated to yeshiva learning, instituted when the the nation was founded in 1948.

The deferment was declared unconstitutional by Israel's High Court of Justice in the early 2000s. Stopgap solutions to maintain it were officially terminated by the bench last year, pressuring the administration to begin drafting the community.

Roughly 24,000 draft notices were delivered last year, but only around 1,200 Haredi conscripts showed up, according to army data presented to lawmakers.

Tensions Boil Over Into Public View

Strains are boiling over onto the city centers, with elected officials now deliberating a new conscription law to force Haredi males into army duty alongside other Israeli Jews.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were harassed this month by radical elements, who are incensed with parliament's discussion of the proposed law.

Recently, a specialized force had to rescue Military Police officers who were attacked by a sizeable mob of community members as they tried to arrest a man avoiding service.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new alert system called "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and mobilize protesters to block enforcement from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said one protester. "It's impossible to battle Judaism in a Jewish state. It doesn't work."

A World Apart

But the shifts affecting Israel have not reached the walls of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in an ultra-Orthodox city, an religious community on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, teenage boys study together to discuss Judaism's religious laws, their distinctive notepads standing out against the rows of formal attire and small black kippahs.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see a significant portion are pursuing religious study," the dean of the academy, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, said. "Through religious study, we shield the soldiers on the front lines. This is our army."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that unceasing devotion and Torah learning defend Israel's military, and are as crucial to its defense as its conventional forces. That belief was endorsed by previous governments in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that Israel was changing.

Increasing Societal Anger

This religious sector has grown substantially its share of the nation's citizens over the since the state's founding, and now represents 14%. What began as an exemption for a few hundred Torah scholars turned into, by the start of the recent conflict, a cohort of some 60,000 men left out of the national service.

Surveys suggest approval of ending the exemption is growing. Research in July revealed that an overwhelming percentage of non-Haredi Jews - encompassing a large segment in the Prime Minister's political base - backed sanctions for those who refused a draft order, with a firm majority in favor of withdrawing benefits, the right to travel, or the right to vote.

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

"I don't think, however religious you are, [it] should be an reason not to fulfill your duty to your nation," added Gabby. "Being a native, I find it rather absurd that you want to avoid service just to study Torah all day."

Perspectives from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Backing for extending the draft is also found among traditional Jews beyond the Haredi community, like one local resident, who lives near the academy and points to religious Zionists who do serve in the military while also studying Torah.

"I'm very angry that the Haredim don't enlist," she said. "This creates inequality. I too follow the Jewish law, but there's a proverb in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the scripture and the defense together. That is the path, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak manages a modest remembrance site in the neighborhood to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were killed in battle. Lines of images {