A core tension in Israeli society has grown more urgent since the Hamas attack on Israel last October: Whether to draft the ultra-Orthodox into military service.
Full-time religious students have been broadly exempt since the nation's founding 76 years ago. A sky-high birth rate means the share who don't serve has grown larger over the decades. Meanwhile, the Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 people — and Israel's response to it — has led to both a mass mobilization and shortage of soldiers.
