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| - When Yossi Levy decided to quit studying at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish yeshiva to join the Israeli army, his brother told him he would be better off dead. But he went ahead to serve in a unit for young men from the ultra-Orthodox community, or haredi in Hebrew. "My heart wasn't in what I was doing at my yeshiva," said 29-year-old Levy, referring to a Jewish academy devoted to the Talmud, the body of Jewish law and legend. "I decided to challenge myself," he told AFP. "I also challenged my family." At Israel's creation in 1948, haredim were exempted from the military service that was mandatory for all other Jewish citizens -- and were also largely exempted from working. The leaders of the new Jewish state wanted this community -- which was hit particularly hard by the Holocaust -- to rehabilitate by focusing on religious study. But the military exemption has since become a controversial subject, with more secular Israelis having grown increasingly resentful. The issue is at the centre of a political stalemate that is forcing the country to hold its third general election inside a year on Monday. The army, long seen as Israel's melting pot, has also sought ways for haredim to enlist while maintaining their religious identity. But that has raised concern among haredi leaders who say military service threatens community cohesion by removing young men from yeshivas and exposing them to a new lifestyle. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has remained in office partly through haredi political alliances, has failed to broker a compromise. His 2018 proposal that sought to establish quotas for haredi military service, without making it mandatory for all ultra-Orthodox, failed to make it through parliament -- one factor that broke up his coalition. Israeli lawmakers have also come under added pressure to resolve the haredi service impasse by the supreme court, which has ruled the exemption violates the principle of equality. But it is unclear whether Monday's vote could lead to a solution. Polls say that Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and the centrist challengers Blue and White are again running neck-and-neck, with further stalemate possible. After deadlocked polls in April and September, the leader of the secular, nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, Avigdor Lieberman, was in a position to play kingmaker. But the former Netanyahu ally refused to join a Likud coalition, accusing the prime minister of failing to tackle ultra-Orthodox military exemption. The coalition talks following Monday's vote will likely be frenzied. Some analysts have suggested that haredi leaders, who currently control 17 of 120 parliamentary seats, could even come to terms with Blue and White. Regardless of the election result, most experts agree the haredi draft conundrum needs to be solved, especially given the Supreme Court's position. Demographic and labour trends also feed into pressure for the community to be more flexible. The ultra-Orthodox currently make up roughly 12 percent of Israel's population but the figure is rising due to the community's high birth rate. Haredi men who don't join the army and remain in yeshivas -- where they receive state subsidies -- generally join the workforce later in life and often lack training beyond religious studies. Labour participation of ultra-Orthodox men -- currently around 50 percent -- is "a serious issue," said Avi Weiss, president of the Taub Center for social policy studies in Israel. "If they stay out of the labour force that could turn into a problem because you still have to support them and that obviously affects the (economic) growth of the entire country," said Weiss, a professor of economics at Bar Ilan university. "As the population grows, the problem will become more severe." Weiss said the rate of haredi men working has stalled since 2015 -- the year ultra-Orthodox parties joined Netanyahu's coalition. The Israeli army was forced to admit this month that it doctored the numbers of soldiers in 'haredi units' to meet quotas, but defended itself by saying the criteria of a haredi soldier were not always clear. Levy, who now heads the Nahal Haredi NGO that supports ultra-Orthodox soldiers, thinks the community's participation in military service will rise. "Youths today have a very hard time sitting and learning," he said. "Young people are restless. The Internet, the modern world all affect the ultra-Orthodox society," he added. "Once you offer youths an alternative -- the army -- many of them will join." jjm/jod/bs/dwo/gle
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