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An impending crisis over conscripting Haredi men into the military is threatening to undermine Israel's government and dividing the state.

Public opinion on the issue has shifted dramatically in Israel after two years of conflict, and this is now perhaps the most volatile political risk facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Battle

Legislators are currently considering a piece of legislation to terminate the exemption given to yeshiva scholars enrolled in Torah study, instituted when the State of Israel was established in 1948.

The deferment was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice almost 20 years ago. Interim measures to extend it were finally concluded by the court last year, pressuring the government to commence conscription of the community.

Some 24,000 enlistment orders were issued last year, but only around 1,200 men from the community enlisted, according to military testimony given to lawmakers.

Strains Spill Into Public View

Tensions are erupting onto the streets, with lawmakers now discussing a new draft bill to require Haredi males into army duty together with other secular Israelis.

Two Haredi politicians were confronted this month by radical elements, who are enraged with the Knesset's deliberations 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 ultra-Orthodox protesters as they tried to arrest a alleged conscription dodger.

These arrests have prompted the establishment of a new alert system called "Dark Alert" to send out instant alerts through ultra-Orthodox communities and summon protesters to stop detentions from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said an activist. "You can't fight against Judaism in a Jewish country. It doesn't work."

An Environment Apart

However the transformations sweeping across Israel have failed to penetrate the confines of the Torah academy in a Haredi stronghold, an Haredi enclave on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, scholars study together to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their vividly colored school notebooks standing out against the seats of light-colored shirts and head coverings.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see many of the students are engaged in learning," the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, said. "Via dedicated learning, we protect the military personnel on the front lines. This is our army."

Haredi Jews maintain that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit guard Israel's armed forces, and are as vital to its security as its conventional forces. This tenet was accepted by Israel's politicians in the past, he said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Growing Popular Demand

This religious sector has grown substantially its percentage of Israel's population over the last seventy years, and now constitutes 14%. An exemption that started as an exemption for a few hundred Torah scholars became, by the onset of the recent conflict, a cohort of approximately 60,000 men not subject to the conscription.

Opinion polls show backing for ending the exemption is increasing. A poll in July found that an overwhelming percentage of the broader Jewish public - including almost three-quarters in the Prime Minister's political base - supported penalties for those who refused a call-up notice, with a clear majority in approving removing privileges, the right to travel, or the electoral participation.

"It makes me feel there are people who are part of this country without contributing," one military member in Tel Aviv explained.

"In my view, no matter how devout, [it] should be an reason not to perform service your nation," stated a young woman. "As a citizen by birth, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to opt out just to engage in religious study all day."

Voices from Inside a Religious City

Support for broadening conscription is also expressed by observant Jews outside the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who lives near the academy and notes non-Haredi religious Jews who do serve in the military while also engaging in religious study.

"I am frustrated that this community don't perform military service," she said. "It's unfair. I am also committed to the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the scripture and the weapons together. That is the path, until the messianic era."

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