Could ultra-Orthodox Jews be the downfall of Israel’s leader?

There are around 1.3 million ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel (Picture: Lefteris Pitarakis)

A fiery dispute over Israel’s military conscription rules threatens to rock Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership.

Everyone over the age of 18 in Israel must join the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) or complete 4 months of obligatory national service.

But an obscure rule dating back to the country’s foundation in 1948 means that ultra-Orthodox Jews, known as Hasidic or Haredim, are exempt from mandatory conscription.

This exemption is unpopular among many secular Israelis, but the ultra-Orthodox community say that military service conflicts with their religious duties.

Now, a court ruling means that Netanyahu’s right-wing government must address the issue head-on – and face the fallout from the ultra-Orthodox community.

This is why that could prove catastrophic for Netanyahu’s regime.

Who are the Haredi Jews?

Ultra-Orthodox Jews are often referred to as Haredim, which means ‘one who trembles before God’ in Hebrew.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish students study the Torah at the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak (Picture: AFP)

There are currently 1.3 million ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, making up about an eighth of the population.

But the rapidly-growing community is expected to account for a quarter of the population by 2050, according to the Financial Times.

Ultra-Orthodox women tend to have more children than their secular counterparts. Haredi women have six children on average, whereas the average fertility rate in the country is 2.5.

The Haredim in Israel usually live in closed, tight-knit communities with their own schools and strict practices.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities usually live in their own enclaves, separate from secular Israelis (Picture: Reuters)

Why are they exempt from Israel’s military service?

Many Haredi men devout their lives to studying the Torah (the Hebrew Bible) at yeshivas, Jewish schools where students read religious texts for hours each day.

Just 55.8% of Haredi men are part of the Israeli workforce, with most relying on generous government stipends that support their studies.

Under a rule dating back to Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s regime in 1948, Jewish men who study the Torah full-time in a seminary are exempt from military conscription.

In 2023, it was reported that 66,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews were exempt from military service.

Around 1,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews leave their community and voluntarily enlist in the army each year. More than 2,000 Haredim signed up for military service in the first 10 weeks of the war after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October.

However, those who do enlist risk being ostracised by their communities. Many Haredim are wary that joining the army means mixing with the opposite sex, which they believe is forbidden by the Torah.

How did the Haredi exemption come about?

The exemption issue has been a hot topic on Israel for years.

In 1977, the Israeli government removed the cap on the number of exemptions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under pressure to scrap the exemption (Picture: AFP)

Then, in 1998, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that the exemption violated equal protection principles. However, the landmark case was not enough to end the conscription exemption in practice.

In 2017, Israel’s top court again held that the exemption was unconstitutional, but a permanent solution wasn’t found.

Now, the court has ordered Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to explain why the exemption should continue by March 27. If they can’t, ultra-Orthodox men could be called up as soon as April.

Men can seek military exemptions if they study the Torah full time (Picture Menahem Kahana / AFP)

A poll by Israel Democracy Voice found that 64% of Israelis support a change to religious military exemption in the country.

Many secular Israelis are frustrated at the lack of contribution from Haredim to the wider community, especially in the wake of the 7 October attacks.

Anger around the conscription exemption intensified when the government announced plans to extend the mandatory service period in February.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant spoke out against the exemptions, declaring: ‘We must all bear the burden.’

Why is the ultra-Orthodox exemption so controversial?

Scrapping the exemption would not be an easy task for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, known domestically as ‘Bibi’.

Netanyahu is supported by a coalition government that includes two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, which means he relies heavily on Haredi support.

Professor Yaacov Yadgar, Director of Middle East Studies at the University of Oxford, told Metro.co.uk that ultra-Orthodox parties form an ‘integral part of the governing coalition’.

‘Given the small size of the coalition, small parties can topple it in a no-confidence vote,’ he said.

Netayahu, right, relies on ultra-Orthodox support (Picture: Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)

Professor Yadgar added: ‘For ultra-Orthodox parties, this is one of the fundamental issues they’d be willing to fight for, one of those red lines they wouldn’t want to cross.’

‘This is a highly charged moment.’

However, Professor Yadgar stressed that the recent court ruling may not lead to a decisive moment.

‘This would not be the first time the court has pushed for a decision and then political maneuvering has led to the granting of an extension,’ he said.

Netanyahu had promised to ‘find an agreement’ to change the rules around the Orthodox exemption, and set out plans to establish annual recruitment targets for Haredi men who study at yeshivas full-time. Under the plans, yeshivas would face a financial penalty if they failed to meet the target.

Netanyahu also said the IDF would look into establishing an ultra-Orthodox battalion.

But the plans have proved deeply unpopular with the ultra-Orthodox community.

Israel’s chief Sephardic rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, one of the most powerful religious figures in the country, has pledged that the ultra-Orthodox community will leave Israel if they are forced to join the army.

Orthodox Jews have protested against government’s plans for the Orthodox Jews to serve in the army for decades (Picture: AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

‘All these secular people don’t understand that without [religious schools], the army would not be successful . . . The soldiers only succeed thanks to those learning Torah,’ he said in a sermon.

In early March, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men blocked a major highway in Bnei Brak, a Haredi city east of Tel Aviv. Some carried signs that said ‘we’ll go to jail over the army’ and ‘we will die and not enlist’.

Many of the protestors were members of the Jerusalem Faction, an extremist ultra-Orthodox group with around 60,000 members.

However, not all members of the ultra-Orthodox community oppose the proposed changes to the military exemption.

According to a poll by the Haredi Institute of Public Affairs, nearly 30% of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community support conscription, which is 20 points higher than before the war.

Professor Yadgar said this could be linked to a wider phenomenon.

‘This might be camouflaging a deeper underground movement around ultra-Orthodox identity. A process of Israelization – breaking down of the walls of separation from wider Israeli politics – has been gradually going on for years.’