A new poll seems to show that if haredi rabbis and Israel's rather craven prime minister would get out of their way, a significant minority of haredim would willingly serve in the IDF.
A new Ynet-Gesher poll found that 55% of Israelis want to keep Israel's version of blue laws which govern certain public behavior on Shabbat and Jewish holidays and forbids the sale of leavened foods during Passover.
However, 70% want to have some form of public bus service on Shabbat, perhaps indicating that the closer these blue laws get to people's daily lives, the less they support them.
But the strangest finding in the poll is the only 66% of haredim think haredi yeshiva students should be exempt from military service even though nearly 100% of their rabbinic leaders forbid haredim from serving in the IDF.
This dichotomy, I think, may be the result of the latest Gaza war and the hundreds of missiles that rained down on Israel. In a time of war, the value of serving in the IDF becomes much clearer to all Israelis, including many haredim.
You can see more results in the Ynet report.