The High Cost of Pious Immunity

Democracy requires a basic social contract: protection in exchange for tax dollars and, when existential threats loom, service. In Israel, that ledger has been hopelessly lopsided for decades. The state hands over 35 billion shekels annually to support full-time religious study for an ultra-Orthodox population that accounts for 14 percent of the country—and rising rapidly toward a projected third by 2050. In return, the public gets a parallel society exempt from both the workforce and the national draft.

That comfortable arrangement was manageable when Israel was at peace and the Haredi community was a small remnant. It is entirely unviable when the country is fighting a multi-front war following the attacks of October 7, 2023. As reservists shoulder hundreds of days of duty, the spectacle of young men in white shirts and black hats clashing with military police in Modi'in to avoid conscription has shifted from a societal annoyance to an existential political crisis.

The Supreme Court struck down the blanket draft exemption two years ago, but legal rulings do not automatically create political courage. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition depends entirely on two Haredi parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas. To keep his majority, Netanyahu has spent years indulging their demands, insulating them from the military obligations borne by the rest of the country.

That calculus has backfired spectacularly. Right-wing voters, traditionally Netanyahu's bedrock, are outraged that their sons are dying while the government protects a massive tax-funded exemption. Former defense figures like Gadi Eisenkot openly condemn the setup as an intolerable state within a state. Polls reflect the public's fury: the ruling coalition has slid from 64 seats to barely 50, far below the 60 needed to command the Knesset.

The Haredi leadership remains defiant. Senior rabbis preach that spiritual protection through Torah study outweighs military service, with former minister Yitzhak Goldknopf even suggesting his community would leave the country rather than adapt. Yet, beneath the intransigence, the political floor is moving. Frustrated young Haredim are increasingly drawn to far-right figures like Itamar Ben-Gvir, while opposition leaders demand full mobilization as a condition for any future government. Netanyahu built his career on playing smaller parties off one another. This time, the kingmakers he nurtured may simply bring down the throne.

Written by Martina Kirchner martina.kirchner@alpineweekly.com