All contemporary societies I am familiar with are terribly polarized. This is quite alarming because this volatility - already fueled by economic conditions, a sense of injustice, and the uncertainty of the times - is further deliberately exploited by politicians and social media algorithms. Much has already been written on this subject, and I will not elaborate on it here (perhaps elsewhere), but it is a defining phenomenon and state of today's societies.
Israel is, of course, no exception. The country is polarized and internally divided, with fault lines running along several axes (which is actually a good thing; sociology teaches that the most dangerous divisions are those that overlap). There is an ethnic divide between Jews and Arabs, as well as Druze and Bedouins. Within the (predominantly) Arab community, there is a religious divide between Christians and Muslims. There are political divisions - becoming increasingly extreme, as is the case everywhere - and the country is in the midst of an election season, with Knesset elections scheduled for October 27. These divisions are further complicated by issues that would be difficult even in the best of political times: terrorism, peace, and border adjustments in the event of a potential Palestinian state being established. For those of us living in more peaceful parts of the world, I recommend a mental exercise: consider how your fellow citizens would react to the prospect of changing the borders of the country where you live, or to the ways of combating - and justifying - terrorism that could, at any moment, claim the life of your child on the way to school or your mother at a bus stop.
Today, however, I would like to address a divide that is becoming increasingly fierce and painful, increasingly dangerous and destructive in present-Israel: the divide between the Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox Jews) and the rest of the Jewish community.
The Shoah claimed 90% of European Jews, but this figure included nearly 100% of ultra-Orthodox Jews. This is understandable. They often had no acquaintances in the non-Jewish world; they did not know - or knew insufficiently - the language of the country where they lived (an accent almost always gave them away); and they had no knowledge of Christianity, making it nearly impossible to go into hiding using so-called false papers. Most were desperately poor. They were easy victims of this murderous madness. Ultra-Orthodox Mizrahi Jews (Middle Eastern Jews) fared better during those terrible years, but they only arrived in Israel in the 1950s, having been expelled from their "homelands" following the War of Independence.
Consequently, when Israel gained independence, the Haredim constituted a mere handful; the founding fathers - most of whom hailed from secular backgrounds (which overwhelmingly dominated the Zionist movement) - expected this to be a passing phenomenon. It was fully anticipated that in the world’s only Jewish state - the first in two thousand years - this form of Judaism, viewed as a reaction to life in a foreign and often hostile world, would fade away. Viewing the Haredim as a vanishing phenomenon and a group most severely traumatized by the recent horrors, authorities exempted men belonging to the movement from military service. At the time, this applied to just 400 individuals.
The founding fathers were mistaken. The movement did not fade away; instead, it experienced a powerful resurgence and - driven by phenomenal natural population growth and a political alliance (formed in the recent past, though it lay in the distant future at the time of the state's founding) with a segment of ultra-Orthodox Sephardic Jews - gained immense influence in Israel. This evolution, which has been documented extensively, would require a book rather than a blog post - and I am not qualified to write such a book. Let us, however, look at the number of Haredim, their legal status, and their political significance today. For this lies at the root of this deeply painful divide.
Today, the Haredim make up over 14% of Israel's population and are growing in number totaling 1,450,000 people. The majority are under the age of 20, and the community continues to expand.
The Haredim are exempt from military service including alternative or auxiliary roles that do not involve frontline combat. Ultra-Orthodox rabbis argue that such service would cause conscripts to drift away from Judaism, even though the IDF has many religious soldiers and ensures appropriate conditions (religious, though not specifically Haredi-compliant) are met. The Haredim also maintain - often sincerely - that studying the Torah and dedicating one’s life to religion is just as vital to Israel’s survival as military service, if not more so. Yet, even if some Haredim genuinely hold this view, the rest of Israeli society - including religious citizens - disagrees. The Haredim receive generous state subsidies for religious schools and living expenses, and they are the primary beneficiaries of welfare payments for large families. Despite receiving this substantial support, they often question the state's right to impose any requirements or conditions upon them.
While they were once a small community and a politically insignificant force, that changed long ago. Today, the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Netanyahu - who is not and has never been religious, but is a consummate political opportunist - includes not only the right-wing (though formerly non-radical) Likud but also extremist parties (akin to Poland’s hard-right factions). These include Shas (an ultra-Orthodox Sephardic party), the Religious Zionists, and Otzma Yehudit - arguably the most extreme group, rooted in the ideology of Rabbi Kahane; its supporters were behind the Hebron massacre and the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. In earlier iterations of his governments, Netanyahu had ruled out a coalition with these forces, but as no one else was willing to partner with him, he opportunistically changed his stance.
War has been ongoing in Israel for nearly three years, since the October 7 attack. The IDF is suffering from a desperate shortage of soldiers. Reservists were called up, and many people - especially in the immediate aftermath of the massacre orchestrated by Hamas - voluntarily put their jobs, careers, and businesses at risk to join the military. The Haredim oppose conscription; their exemption expired in June 2023, meaning they should have begun serving. Following the October 7 attack and severe IDF manpower shortages, the Supreme Court ruled in March 2024 to halt funding for yeshivas whose students refused service. In June 2024, the Court unanimously (9–0) decided that the government must begin conscripting Haredim, as failure to do so would constitute discrimination against and unequal treatment of other citizens. It is worth noting that the Court also ruled the government lacks the authority to transfer funds to Haredi yeshivas and educational institutions for students who have neither obtained an exemption from military service nor received a deferral in accordance with the law. The Court determined that this funding was linked to IDF service exemption conditions that were no longer in effect.
The Haredim refused to serve (though several thousand voluntarily joined the IDF following the attack); the rest protested, with their rabbis claiming that emigration or even death was preferable to IDF service. Naturally, no one emigrated, and the ultra-Orthodox parties neither left the coalition nor ceased dictating the lives of other Israelis. Arrests of draft evaders began, prompting protests from the Haredim - often violent ones involving attacks on the police, the IDF, and demonstrators demanding their conscription. They claimed that service threatened their identity, even though Religious Zionists and Orthodox (non-Haredi) Jews, for instance, serve in large numbers.
Attacks have occurred against tax inspectors who visited ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods to assess damage caused by Iranian missiles for the purpose of paying compensation. The dispute between the Haredim and the rest of Israel’s Jewish citizens is slowly emerging as the country’s most intense internal conflict - or perhaps it already has.
Against this backdrop, and with the ruling coalition providing the necessary votes, the Knesset - shortly before going into recess - passed a series of laws on July 13 and 14 at the behest of Haredi parties threatening to split the coalition. Israel lacks a formal constitution, relying instead on a set of so-called Basic Laws; one of these was now amended to state that "the study of the Torah constitutes a fundamental value in the heritage of the Jewish people and in the State of Israel." This effectively placed Torah study on a par with service in the IDF, paving the way for yeshiva students to avoid conscription. The legislation sparked widespread outrage in Israel and triggered protests against the government. Two days later, the Supreme Court suspended the law's implementation, thereby maintaining the possibility of arresting and investigating draftees who evade military service.
Elections will be held in Israel on October 27.
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