A Crisis Threatens in Israel Over Haredi Military Draft Legislation

An impending political storm over drafting Haredi men into the Israel Defense Forces is threatening to undermine the administration and fracturing the state.

Public opinion on the matter has changed profoundly in Israel after two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political risk facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Conflict

Legislators are now debating a draft bill to abolish the deferment given to Haredi students dedicated to yeshiva learning, instituted when the State of Israel was declared in 1948.

That exemption was declared unconstitutional by the nation's top court two decades ago. Stopgap solutions to maintain it were formally ended by the court last year, pressuring the government to commence conscription of the Haredi sector.

Roughly 24,000 enlistment orders were delivered last year, but only around 1,200 Haredi conscripts showed up, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Tensions Erupt Onto the Streets

Friction is spilling onto the streets, with parliamentarians now debating a new draft bill to require Haredi males into military service in the same way as other secular Israelis.

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

In a recent incident, a special Border Police unit had to rescue army police who were attacked by a big group of Haredi men as they attempted to detain a alleged conscription dodger.

Such incidents have sparked the creation of a new alert system called "Dark Alert" to send out instant alerts through the religious sector and call out activists to prevent arrests from happening.

"This is a Jewish state," stated one protester. "It's impossible to battle the Jewish faith in a Jewish state. That is untenable."

An Environment Apart

However the changes affecting Israel have failed to penetrate the confines of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in a Haredi stronghold, an religious community on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, young students sit in pairs to debate Judaism's religious laws, their distinctive writing books popping against the lines of light-colored shirts and small black kippahs.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see many of the students are pursuing religious study," the head of the academy, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, noted. "Through religious study, we protect the military personnel wherever they are. This is our army."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and Torah learning protect Israel's military, and are as essential to its defense as its advanced weaponry. This conviction was endorsed by the nation's leaders in the past, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that Israel was changing.

Increasing Public Pressure

This religious sector has more than doubled its proportion of the country's people 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 became, by the beginning of the 2023 war, a group of some 60,000 men not subject to the conscription.

Opinion polls indicate backing for drafting the Haredim is rising. A poll in July showed that an overwhelming percentage of secular and traditional Jews - even a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - backed consequences for those who ignored a draft order, with a firm majority in favor of cutting state subsidies, passports, or the right to vote.

"It seems to me there are people who live in this country without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, however religious you are, [it] should be an justification not to perform service your nation," stated Gabby. "Being a native, I find it rather absurd that you want to opt out just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Perspectives from Inside Bnei Brak

Backing for extending the draft is also expressed by religious Jews outside the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who resides close to the academy and notes religious Zionists who do perform national service while also maintaining their faith.

"It makes me angry that this community don't enlist," she said. "It is unjust. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it means the Torah and the weapons together. That is the path, until the arrival of peace."

The resident runs a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to local soldiers, both observant and non-observant, who were fallen in war. Rows of images {