Ultra-Orthodox military conscription row reignites in Israel

Ultra-Orthodox military conscription row reignites in Israel

A new draft law on conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews, whose support is crucial for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, has sparked uproar in Israel, with the opposition denouncing it as a special privilege for "draft-dodgers".

Under a ruling established at the time of Israel's creation in 1948, men who devote themselves full-time to studying sacred Jewish texts are given a de facto pass from mandatory military service.

But this exemption has come under mounting scrutiny from the rest of Israeli society -- particularly when tens of thousands of conscripts and reservists are mobilised on several fronts, despite the fragile truce halting the war in Gaza.

The ultra-Orthodox make up 14 percent of Israel's Jewish populat