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A looming political storm over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is jeopardizing Israel's government and splitting the state.

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

The Constitutional Battle

Politicians are reviewing a proposal to end the special status granted to yeshiva scholars dedicated to yeshiva learning, created when the the nation was founded in 1948.

This arrangement was declared unconstitutional by the nation's top court two decades ago. Temporary arrangements to maintain it were finally concluded by the judiciary last year, forcing the government to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

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

Strains Spill Onto the Streets

Friction is spilling onto the streets, with lawmakers now discussing a new conscription law to force yeshiva students into national service in the same way as other Israeli Jews.

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

In a recent incident, a special Border Police unit had to extract Military Police officers who were surrounded by a large crowd of Haredi men as they tried to arrest a alleged conscription dodger.

These enforcement actions have sparked the creation of a new communication network dubbed "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and summon protesters to stop detentions from taking place.

"This is a Jewish state," said an activist. "It's impossible to battle religious practice in a Jewish country. That is untenable."

A Realm Set Aside

Yet the shifts affecting Israel have not yet breached the environment of the religious seminary in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, scholars sit in pairs to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their brightly coloured writing books contrasting with the seats of light-colored shirts and small black kippahs.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see many of the students are studying Torah," the head of the academy, a senior rabbi, noted. "By studying Torah, we shield the military personnel in the field. This is how we contribute."

The community holds that constant study and spiritual pursuit guard Israel's soldiers, and are as vital to its security as its tanks and air force. This conviction was acknowledged by the nation's leaders in the past, the rabbi said, but he acknowledged that Israel was changing.

Increasing Public Pressure

The Haredi community has more than doubled its proportion of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now accounts for 14%. An exemption that started as an exception for a small number of religious students became, by the beginning of the recent conflict, a group of approximately 60,000 men not subject to the draft.

Opinion polls suggest approval of ultra-Orthodox conscription is increasing. Research in July found that a large majority of non-Haredi Jews - even a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - favored sanctions for those who refused a draft order, with a clear majority in approving removing privileges, passports, or the right to vote.

"It seems to me there are individuals who live in this country without giving anything back," one military member in Tel Aviv explained.

"I don't think, regardless of piety, [it] should be an excuse not to perform service your country," said a young woman. "As a citizen by birth, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to exempt yourself just to study Torah all day."

Voices from Within a Religious City

Support for extending the draft is also expressed by traditional Jews beyond the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who is a neighbor of the yeshiva and highlights religious Zionists who do perform national service while also engaging in religious study.

"I'm very angry that this community don't enlist," she said. "It's unfair. I am also committed to the Torah, 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."

The resident runs a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Lines of faces {