Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Divide Tests The Meaning Of Citizenship
(ANALYSIS) Ultra-Orthodox Jewish families are among the most distinctive and increasingly influential communities in Israeli society. Their growing presence is visible not only in the streets, where large families and traditional dress make them immediately recognizable, but also in politics, education and the national debate over military service.
As Israel enters its third year of war on multiple fronts, the question of whether ultra-Orthodox men should be exempt from mandatory military service has become a much larger argument about citizenship itself: Who bears responsibility for defending the Jewish state?
For the ultra-Orthodox — also known as Haredim — the issue is not simply about avoiding military service. At the center of their religious worldview is the conviction that studying and teaching Torah is humanity’s highest calling. In this understanding, Torah learning is not a private spiritual hobby that can be suspended when circumstances become difficult. It is a fundamental religious obligation, one that some believe provides spiritual protection for the entire Jewish people.
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Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld, who has spent decades studying and teaching Torah in Israel, told The Associated Press that understanding scripture is the “crucial mission of life.” Inside Haredi yeshivas, young men spend their days praying, studying sacred texts and debating their interpretations. This conviction helps explain why arguments over conscription can become so emotionally charged.
“God’s word is not supposed to be intuitive; you have to look deeply,” Gershenfeld added.
To many secular and religious Zionist Israelis, however, military service is a basic expression of citizenship. Most Jewish Israeli men are required to serve for nearly three years, with women also subject to compulsory service. Since the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, the burden has become dramatically heavier. Thousands of reservists have been repeatedly called up, families have lost loved ones and soldiers have faced prolonged combat in Gaza and on other fronts.
The demographic trajectory makes the disagreement harder to ignore. The Haredi population has grown faster than other sectors of Israeli society. Researchers at the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research dedicated to strengthening Israeli democracy, estimate that ultra-Orthodox Israelis could make up roughly a quarter of the population by 2050.
A system designed decades ago for a small number of exceptional Torah scholars therefore faces a fundamentally different demographic reality. Israel originally granted exemptions to a few hundred yeshiva students after the state’s creation, partly to help rebuild a religious scholarly tradition devastated by the Holocaust. Over subsequent decades, the exemption expanded substantially, particularly under conservative governments, eventually covering large numbers of men engaged in full-time Torah study.
The resulting arrangement has created a political bargain as much as a religious one. Haredi parties have become essential partners in coalition governments, giving them considerable leverage over legislation involving military exemptions, education and public funding. As national elections approach, that influence is unlikely to diminish. If neither major political bloc can govern without Haredi support, the draft question becomes inseparable from the struggle for political power.
The deeper issue is that neither side fully accepts the other’s definition of obligation. Haredim can view the secular demand for universal service as an assault on a way of life that they believe is essential to Jewish continuity. Secular Israelis can view indefinite exemptions as a rejection of the shared civic responsibilities that sustain the state.
The war has sharpened that contradiction. When soldiers are killed or seriously wounded, arguments about spiritual protection can sound increasingly remote to families bearing the physical costs of combat. The central question is therefore becoming unavoidable: Can a society remain cohesive when different groups define sacrifice so differently?
Clemente Lisi serves as executive editor at Religion Unplugged.