On March 2 last year, hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews demonstrated in Jerusalem against the bill for drafting yeshiva (rabbinical college) students to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Exactly two weeks later on the Purim festival, thousands of ultra-Orthodox children donned green uniforms, armed themselves with long plastic rifles and masqueraded as IDF soldiers. This contradiction sums up the ultra-Orthodox public’s convoluted attitude toward the IDF in a nutshell: a mix of both affection and fear.

On April 22, Israel held its annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers. This day is a very painful one for Israel’s small, extended familial society, a society in which almost everyone has come face-to-face with bereavement and loss in his or her inner circle. For the ultra-Orthodox public, it's also a day of guilt and fear. Guilt because the ultra-Orthodox community is, to a great extent, not part of Israel’s “extended bereavement family,” and fear of what the future will bring. They dread the unavoidable clash within Israeli society surrounding the issue of drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the IDF.

The Israeli media tend to oversimplify the discourse surrounding the attitude of the ultra-Orthodox to the IDF. In fact, the attitude of the ultra-Orthodox sector toward the military is fascinating and contradictory. But before we approach this subject, it is important to distinguish between the various sectors within the ultra-Orthodox world with regard to the IDF. On one side are the factions associated with the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta court and Eidah Hareidis (an inner fringe group within the ultra-Orthodox sector). These groups strongly oppose IDF recruitment under any condition. On the other side are the Chabad Chassidic group and Shas circles, who have a more liberal, forgiving view of those who choose to serve in the army.

Between these two sides reside the majority of ultra-Orthodox Jews, who do not oppose the IDF for anti-Zionist motives. Instead, they do not enlist because they hold that while enlistment is very important, Torah study is even more so. Many ultra-Orthodox leaders argue that the yeshiva world is, in effect, a spiritual-religious front that is no less important than the military front. Thus, while there is ultra-Orthodox opposition to IDF conscription at any age, the greatest opposition is reserved for the recruiting of yeshiva students, generally aged 18-22. The ultra-Orthodox leadership operates under the axiom that the ultra-Orthodox public would cease to exist if not for the continued existence of the yeshiva world.