They weren’t supposed to fight. At Israel’s founding in 1948, the new nation’s leaders agreed that ultra-Orthodox men — known as the Haredim, or God-fearing, in Hebrew — would be spared from mandatory military service. In exchange, Haredi leaders lent their support for the largely secular state. The arrangement held for Israel’s first 75 years,…
President Trump has never had much love for the NATO alliance, which he thinks is overdependent on American largess, and in his first term, talked about abandoning the collective defense pact. In his second term, Mr. Trump and his senior officials have made it clear that the security of Europe is no longer the first…
They stand in a small crowd outside the large metal gate, tense and waiting in the dark. Most look weighed down, both by stress and by overstuffed plastic bags — all for men who may soon be heading off to war. “Where’s my father? Where’s my father?” a boy in a camouflage coat asks, leaning…