The British Times newspaper said that pressure has been steadily increasing on the Israeli government since the Al-Aqsa flood on October 7, 2023, to enlist ultra-Orthodox Jews from the Haredi sect, who represent 13% of the population, and about 18% of Jews aged 18.

Last June, the Supreme Court in Israel ruled that Haredi Jews cannot be exempted from military service. It also ordered a freeze on the budget of religious schools, and said in its decision that there is no legal basis to prevent the government from enlisting Haredi Jews in the Israeli army.

This issue, according to the newspaper, has threatened to create a rift in the "fragile" ruling coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, which relies on the United Torah Judaism Party - the junior partner in the government that strongly opposes the extension of enlistment.

Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, was the first to exempt 400 Haredim who were studying in Jewish religious schools from military service. The newspaper noted that the decision had little practical effect at the time.

But more than a year after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas attacked Israel, the issue of exempting them began to pose problems while its army was in dire need of soldiers to fight on two fronts against Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah, according to the report.

This month, Israel’s new defense minister, Yisrael Katz, approved the recruitment of 7,000 ultra-Orthodox Haredim. In response, prominent Haredi figures accused Netanyahu’s Likud party of “declaring war” on their community.

The newspaper noted that the Israeli army issued 1,125 arrest warrants last week for Haredi recruits who failed to comply with mandatory conscription orders.

Hamami: Only those born religious know the dilemma we are in. If you are not religious and do not observe the laws of Jewish tradition, you will never understand us

Amid the growing tensions, the newspaper quoted several Haredim in Bnei Brik, an ultra-Orthodox town east of Tel Aviv, as saying they feel misunderstood by the rest of Israel, who describe them as draft dodgers who are avoiding the horrors of war rather than those who are “genuinely” devoted to studying Torah.

Moshe Hamami, a 38-year-old Haredi men’s clothing merchant, told The Times that he understands both sides, “those who think we should go to the army and those who want to study Torah.”

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“Only those born religious know the dilemma we are in,” he added. “If you are not religious and do not observe the laws of Jewish tradition, you will never understand us.”

Source: The Times+ Al Jazeera