In a Jerusalem neighborhood, ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents celebrated the return of a soldier from military service. Devout students gathered at a religious seminary to hear an officer speak about his military duties. Members of a synagogue devoted a Torah scroll in memory of a soldier killed in Gaza.
The attack on Israel by Hamas last October has led to increased solidarity between sections of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority and the secular mainstream. Fears of a shared threat have accelerated the integration of some of Israel’s most insular citizens.
As Israel’s war in Gaza continues and Israeli reservists are called to serve extended or additional tours of duty, long-standing divisions about military exemptions for the country’s most religious Jews are once again at the center of a national debate.
In the wake of the deadliest day of attacks on Jews since the Holocaust, parts of Israel’s rapidly growing community of ultra-Orthodox Jews, known in Hebrew as Haredim, are reconsidering their role in the nation’s fabric. Unusually high numbers have expressed support for or interest in military service, according to polling data and military statistics, even as the vast majority of Haredim still hope to retain their exemption.
Since Israel’s founding 76 years ago, Haredim have had a complicated relationship with their secular neighbors, in part because of the benefits the small ultra-Orthodox community was guaranteed around that time in an agreement between religious and secular leaders.
Unlike most Israelis, for whom military service is mandatory, Haredim are exempt from conscription to focus on religious study. They also receive substantial state subsidies to maintain an independent education system that eschews math and science for the study of Scripture.
As the number of ultra-Orthodox Jews has exploded — to more than one million people today, roughly 13 percent of Israel’s population, from about 40,000 in 1948 — those privileges and exemptions have led to resentment from secular Israelis. Many Israelis feel that their own military service and taxes provide both physical protection and financial reward to an underemployed community that gives little in return. Secular efforts to draw the ultra-Orthodox into the army and the work force have angered many Haredim, who see army service as a threat to their lives of religious devotion.
The army may ultimately come for some Haredim whether they like it or not. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a looming deadline to either extend their exemption or begin to include them in the draft.
The decision, which pits some Haredi lawmakers against secular officials like Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who wants to increase Haredi involvement in the military, threatens to bring down the governing coalition.
“The security challenges facing us prove that everyone must bear the…
Published on 2024-03-04 14:30:32
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