In a neighborhood of Jerusalem, ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents cheered a soldier returning from military service. At a religious seminary, similarly devout students gathered to hear an officer speak about his military service. And at a synagogue attended by some of the most observant Jews in the country, members dedicated a Torah scroll to the memory of a soldier killed in Gaza.
The Hamas-led attack on Israel last October prompted greater solidarity between sections of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority and the secular mainstream, over fears of a threat. collectively has accelerated the integration of some of Israel’s most segregated citizens.
As Israel’s war in Gaza dragged on and Israeli reservists were called upon for extended or additional tours of duty, simmering divisions lingered over military exemptions for devout Jews. The country’s leader is once again at the center of a national debate.
But now, after the deadliest day of attacks on Jews since the Holocaust, a rapidly growing segment of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, known in Hebrew as Haredim, are reconsidering their role in the national structure. According to polling data and military statistics, the number of people expressing support for or interest in military service is unusually high, even as the vast majority of Haredim still hope for exemptions.
Since the founding of Israel 76 years ago, Haredim have had a tense relationship with their secular neighbors, partly because of the benefits that the small Orthodox community secured at that time. in an agreement between religious and secular leaders.
Unlike most Israelis, for whom military service is mandatory, Haredim are exempt from military service to focus on religious studies. They also received substantial state subsidies to maintain an independent educational system that eschewed math and science for biblical studies.
As the number of ultra-Orthodox Jews has exploded — to more than a million today, about 13 percent of Israel’s population, from about 40,000 in 1948 — those privileges and exemptions have led to resentment. from secular Israelis. Many Israelis feel that their military service and taxes provide both material protection and financial reward to an underemployed community with few benefits. Secular efforts to draw ultra-Orthodox Christians into the military and workforce have angered many Haredim, who see military service as a threat to a devout life. their religion.
The army may eventually come to arrest some Haredim whether they want to or not. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government faces a looming deadline to extend the exemptions or begin including them in the draft.
The decision pits some Haredi lawmakers against secular officials such as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who want to increase Haredi participation in the military, threatening to bring down the ruling coalition.
“The security challenges we face demonstrate that everyone bears the burden, every segment of the population,” Mr. Gallant said in a speech Wednesday.
The poll shows that the Israeli mainstream is more inclined than ever to conscript Haredim, especially as more soldiers return from fighting in Gaza and questions are raised about the absence of followers. Ultra-Orthodox on the front lines.
But beyond that deadlock, some social gaps are narrowing rather than widening.
All of Israel was shaken by the Hamas-led raid in October, with political and social consequences expected to last for years.
According to polling data, Haredi experts and even some of their harshest secular critics, some of the most prominent consequences are occurring in the more extroverted segments of Haredi society.
According to a poll conducted in December by the Haredi Public Affairs Institute, a Jerusalem-based research group, nearly 30% of the Haredi public now support military conscription, 20 points higher than before the war. . Nearly three-quarters of respondents said their sense of common destiny with other Israelis had strengthened since the October 7 attacks.
“We see some changes in the Haredi community,” said Avigdor Liberman, leader of a nationalist party that has long campaigned to end Haredi privileges. “They understand that it is impossible to continue without greater participation in our society.”
Incorporating Haredim, a conservative population, into a modern military includes many unique challenges, such as addressing sensitive issues related to men serving alongside women. Yet more than 2,000 Haredim sought to join the army in the first 10 weeks of the war, a tiny percentage of the serving army but twice the group’s annual average. More Arab Israelis join the military than ultra-Orthodox ones.
The few Haredim who have joined the military say they feel more respected in their communities, making them feel more confident walking through their neighborhoods in uniform.
“What we have experienced since October 7 will be seen as one of the factors driving great change in the Haredi community,” said Nechamia Steinberger, 40, a Haredi lecturer and rabbi in Jerusalem. in the next 30 years”.
Mr. Steinberger’s own experiences since the attacks represent much of what is going on. He is among what some experts call modern Haredim – an estimated 10% of ultra-Orthodox people who seek to combine their devout lifestyle with the values of modern Israel.
For many years, Mr. Steinberger has worked to find common ground between different segments of Israeli society. Unlike most Haredim, he completed his military service three years ago; After October 7, he returned to the military as a reservist, helping run an air force support command center.
When he returned from nearly three months of duty in late December, he realized that much had changed.
As Mr. Steinberger walked in uniform through Beit Vegan, an ultra-Orthodox suburb of Jerusalem, groups of Haredi children ran after him and expressed gratitude to him, he said.
“It’s something new,” he said. “I feel like a hero.”
In his absence, worshipers at a nearby ultra-Orthodox synagogue dedicated the Torah to a soldier killed in the Gaza invasion — something unthinkable before the war.
On a personal level, Mr. Steinberger also feels that war has changed. Twelve weeks of service with secular reservists is a kind of intellectual boot camp. Night after night, he and his soldiers discussed politics and religion, showing each other different perspectives.
Mr. Steinberger said he appears more sympathetic to unorthodox forms of Judaism and more accepting of the secular campaign to legalize civil marriage.
Chana Irom, a Haredi community organizer, went through a similar transition after October 7.
For most of her career, Ms. Irom, 44, has helped run dormitories for Haredi girls who have left home because of family problems. The thought of helping secular Israelis never crossed her mind.
Then came the attacks by Hamas.
Stunned by the violence against secular communities along the Gaza border and moved by the thousands of reservists responding to the call to arms, Ms. Irom pondered how to overcome social divisions.
Within three days, Ms. Irom said, she helped establish a network of about 1,000 Haredi women to support the families of military reservists who had gone to war and Israelis evacuated from their homes. Some volunteers help with babysitting, others help with shopping and other chores.
“I don’t think that before the war I could have convinced anyone, or even myself, to volunteer outside of our community,” Ms. Irom said.
However, most of Haredi society has opposed such interactions.
In Bnei Brak, a city east of Tel Aviv considered Israel’s ultra-Orthodox capital, there were few posters of the Israeli hostages captured on October 7 and their photos were everywhere. in secular neighborhoods.
Rabbinical leaders in the city remain unmoved by calls for Haredim to serve in the military. In the Haredi community, many fear that their isolated lives will begin to unravel if men are forced to forgo full-time Bible study.
“The way to help is to study the Torah,” Meir Zvi Bergman, one of the most respected rabbis in Israel, said in a rare audience with journalists from The New York Times. “No one can abandon the Torah,” he added.
To show how Rabbi Bergman reflects Haredi orthodoxy, a Haredi commentator took us to meet boys at a nearby school.
“How can we win the war?” asked commentator Bezalel Stauber. “With a gun?”
“No guns,” one boy replied.
“So with what?” Mr. Stauber asked.
“Just praying,” another boy replied.
“So where will we get the soldiers from?” Mr. Stauber said.
The boy replied: “If all soldiers studied the Torah, we would not need an army.”
But Haredi society is not monolithic and some leaders have hinted at a shift in thinking.
Yitzhak Goldknopf is a Haredi government minister and leader of Israel’s second largest Haredi political coalition. In his government office, Mr. Goldknopf sat surrounded by pictures of hostages, many of them young women. It’s a remarkable juxtaposition in a society where images of women, even in advertisements, are often omitted for fear of upsetting extreme sensibilities.
Mr. Goldknopf broke Jewish Sabbath rules for the first time on October 7, when he was summoned from the synagogue to attend an emergency cabinet meeting. This was also the first time he went to Israel’s military headquarters. When officials saw the initial images of the carnage, Mr. Goldknopf recalled, a cabinet minister burst into tears.
“It changed me a lot,” Mr. Goldknopf said, explaining that it hardened his attitude toward the Palestinians. “I think the world is falling apart,” he added.
Now, Mr. Goldknopf is willing to admit that some Haredim may join the military — those who are unlikely to become Torah scholars.
“Those who don’t study should go,” he said.
“The world is based on three things: Torah, prayer and charity,” he said. However, he added: “The reality is that people who do not study can join the army.”
Then, he paused the interview to proudly show off the photo of the soldier on his phone.
It was a picture of his grandson.
Adam Sella contributed reporting.
