Mea Shearim is the heart of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, whose role bitterly divides the country and, some believe, may be the issue that ultimately brings down Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The special legal status of the ultra-Orthodox, the Haredim, that has endured as long as the state of Israel, came to an abrupt end on Monday following a supreme court decision that the group would no longer benefit from government subsidies and exemption from military service, as is mandatory for most other Jewish Israelis. It followed a series of delays by the government in presenting a proposal demanded by the court aimed at enhancing the military enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men.
The war in Gaza has brought to a head an unresolved conflict within Israel over the special treatment of the Haredim, an argument about the character of the Jewish state itself. Some in the secular parties in Netanyahu’s fractious rightwing coalition say they will walk out if the government does not carry out the instructions of the attorney general to cut off funding to the community’s religious schools and begin drafting its men.
Haredi representatives and supporters in the coalition, meanwhile, say they will walk out if those instructions are carried out. Either way, the issue threatens to do something the disastrous security failure on 7 October or the bloody morass that followed, failed to do – bring down Netanyahu. Trailing significantly in the polls, it is unlikely he could emerge triumphant from any elections that followed a coalition collapse.
On the crowded streets of this Jerusalem district, a few minutes’ walk from the Old City, there is little sign of concern, however, for the simple reason that many Haredi men strolling through its streets on a recent afternoon were adamant they would not serve – whatever the impact of the court’s ruling.
“I will never enter the army. For us, studying the Torah is everything. We live by the word of God, who is above everything. We will follow the directions of our rabbis,” said Yehuda Cohen, a 19-year-old Mea Shearim resident. “Our community members in the government will fight for us. You see, studying the Torah, especially in these days of conflict, is a way for us to fight the war.”
The exemption policy dates back to shortly after the founding of the state of Israel, when 400 students at yeshivas, Jewish institutions for religious study, were permitted to avoid conscription. But as Haredi populations have increased – to about 12% of the country’s 9m citizens – tens of thousands avoid the military and live on government stipends for religious study. Furthermore, certain groups within the ultra-Orthodox community do not recognise the state of Israel, asserting that the establishment of a nation is contingent upon the arrival of the Messiah.
“The army can come here and say whatever they want,” says Ari, 19. “But we only answer to God. We will not enlist because studying the Torah has always been our only objective. They can fine us or do whatever they want. We will pay the fines, but we will not enter the army.”
Ultra-Orthodox Jews live their life according to religious commandments and distance themselves from modern society. Posters as you enter the district urge women to wear modest clothing and another declares: “If you take your smartphone out in this holy place, it will be confiscated. There are guards everywhere!’’.
Young children roam the streets unaccompanied. Haredi families are large, many with five or six children whom the parents teach from a very young age to be independent.
“There were several attempts over the years to force the Haredim to join the army, and they all failed,” said Yitzik Crombie, a Haredi tech entrepreneur and author. “After 7 October, there is a real need for manpower in the military, but the Haredim will never join the army if they are forced to. I believe this draft law is a mistake and Israeli society will never accept it. If the law passes, people will take the streets. And I’ll be the first one to join them.”
Israeli flags have been set on fire in protests in Mea Shearim in recent years, along with military uniforms.
The Israeli attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, on Sunday wrote to the defence and education ministries to say that the “process of drafting members of the ultra-Orthodox community into the army must begin”, as the court had ordered, and warned “against any attempt to continue funding yeshivahs that harbour students who dodge their army service, against court orders”.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) puts the number of ultra-Orthodox males eligible for military conscription each year at approximately 13,000. Other sources inside the army put it much higher. There are a reported 60,000 yeshiva students between the ages of 18 and 26.
No enlistment has yet begun. An IDF spokesperson said: “The IDF is currently conducting preparations regarding the recruitment of yeshiva members, decisions on this matter will be made in accordance with the law and the guidance of the government.
“The IDF is the army of the nation and works in a professional manner in order to recruit the populations liable for conscription, in accordance with the security service law.”
The war in Gaza has inflamed the long-simmering resentment of the Haredim among other Israelis who have to serve in the IDF. Scores of demonstrators associated with the Brothers in Arms movement, formed of IDF reservists, rallied in Mea Shearim on Sunday demanding the conscription of ultra-Orthodox men.
“I believe, I believe, I believe in enlisting in the military,” the protesters chanted, while some Haredi residents threw eggs, water and bottles at the demonstrators.
“They just want to provoke us,” said Ari.
The two ultra-Orthodox parties in Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist coalition, United Torah Judaism and Shas, have denounced the court’s ruling on removing government subsidies as a “mark of Cain”. Aryeh Deri, the head of Shas, called it “unprecedented bullying of Torah students in the Jewish state”.
Benny Gantz, a political rival of Netanyahu who has declared his willingness to resign from the emergency unity government over the issue, praised the court’s decision and said it recognised “the need for soldiers during a difficult war, and the need for everyone in our society to take part in the right to serve the country”.
Anshel Pfeffer, a political columnist on Haaretz newspaper, argued that threats from the ultra-Orthodox parties to walk out were empty and they were “in no rush to leave this governing coalition” as a centrist alternative would be worse for them.
Other political analysts and politicians, however, believe the issue could be the one that brings down Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. Naama Lazimi, a Knesset member for the centre-left Labor party, said the row could be “a gamechanger”.
Menahem Elison, 19, said he was confident that ultra-Orthodox parties representing his community would find a solution. “I trust our Haredi politicians,” he said. “They know we are not going to enlist in the army. They understand the importance of studying the Torah.”
