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JERUSALEM (RNS) — Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox Jews, make up just 14% of Israel’s population. Still, their near-universal refusal to serve in the Israel Defense Forces while their non-Haredi peers have fought wars on several fronts since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack has become a contentious issue for voters in the Tuesday (Oct. 27) election.

In poll after poll, enforcing Haredi military conscription has been a priority for most Jewish Israeli respondents in this election, along with national security and the high cost of living.

When asked whether the next government should pass an egalitarian conscription law that would require young Haredim to draft, 72% of Jewish respondents in an Israel Democracy Institute poll said yes.

The two major Haredi parties — United Torah Judaism and Shas — serve as the political arm of the nation’s top ultra-Orthodox rabbis.…