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An impending political storm over conscripting Haredi men into the Israeli army is posing a risk to the governing coalition and splitting the state.

Public opinion on the matter has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of war, and this is now possibly the most volatile political issue facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Battle

Lawmakers are reviewing a piece of legislation to end the special status given to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in full-time religious study, established when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

This arrangement was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice in the early 2000s. Stopgap solutions to maintain it were formally ended by the judiciary last year, forcing the cabinet to start enlisting the Haredi sector.

Roughly 24,000 call-up papers were issued last year, but merely about 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees enlisted, according to army data shared with lawmakers.

Strains Boil Over Into Public View

Tensions are erupting onto the streets, with lawmakers now discussing a new legislative proposal to require ultra-Orthodox men into national service alongside other Jewish citizens.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were harassed this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are enraged with parliament's discussion of the draft legislation.

In a recent incident, a specialized force had to assist enforcement personnel who were targeted by a large crowd of Haredi men as they tried to arrest a suspected draft-evader.

These enforcement actions have prompted the establishment of a new alert system dubbed "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through ultra-Orthodox communities and mobilize protesters to prevent arrests from taking place.

"This is a Jewish state," said Shmuel Orbach. "One cannot oppose religious practice in a Jewish country. It doesn't work."

An Environment Separate

Yet the transformations sweeping across Israel have not yet breached the environment of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in a Haredi stronghold, an religious community on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, teenage boys study together to analyze the Torah, their brightly coloured notepads popping against the rows of light-colored shirts and head coverings.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see many of the students are studying Torah," the dean of the seminary, the spiritual guide, explained. "By studying Torah, we protect the soldiers on the front lines. This constitutes our service."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and Torah learning protect Israel's military, and are as essential to its military success as its conventional forces. That belief was endorsed by Israel's politicians in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that Israel was changing.

Rising Public Pressure

The ultra-Orthodox population has more than doubled its proportion of the country's people over the past seven decades, and now represents a sizable minority. A policy that originated as an exemption for a small number of yeshiva attendees became, by the beginning of the Gaza war, a group of some 60,000 men not subject to the conscription.

Polling data suggest backing for ultra-Orthodox conscription is rising. A poll in July showed that an overwhelming percentage of non-Haredi Jews - even almost three-quarters in his own coalition allies - backed sanctions for those who refused a call-up notice, with a solid consensus in supporting cutting state subsidies, passports, or the right to vote.

"I feel there are people who reside in this country without contributing," one military member in Tel Aviv said.

"In my view, however religious you are, [it] should be an excuse not to fulfill your duty to your country," added Gabby. "If you're born here, I find it rather absurd that you want to avoid service just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Voices from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Advocacy of broadening conscription is also expressed by traditional Jews beyond the ultra-Orthodox sector, like Dorit Barak, who resides close to the seminary and highlights observant but non-Haredi Jews who do enlist in the army while also engaging in religious study.

"I am frustrated that this community don't enlist," she said. "It's unfair. I too follow the Torah, but there's a proverb in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the Torah and the defense together. That's the way forward, until the arrival of peace."

Ms Barak runs a small memorial in the neighborhood to soldiers from the area, both religious and secular, who were lost in conflict. Rows of photographs {