Yuli Edelstein, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, held a press conference this afternoon (Tuesday) in the Knesset, amid the crisis surrounding the draft law.

At the beginning of his remarks, Edelstein said: "For many months, I met with people from all parts of Israeli society. I heard the pain of reservists and their families. Unfortunately, I also heard voices inciting against the entire haredi community. For me, the discussion around the draft law was, from beginning to end, a substantive discussion."

He added, "Only one thing was in my mind - to seize the historic opportunity to expand the recruitment base for the IDF and add thousands of fighters and combat supporters to meet the operational needs of the IDF. At the same time, I acted with national responsibility all along the way and thwarted every attempt to overthrow the right-wing government in such a sensitive period."

Edelstein continued, "Since then, we have been working intensively, in consultation with the serving public, to finalize the sections of the conscription law and its details. Last night, I held a lengthy meeting with the Prime Minister and representatives of the haredi parties, where I presented to them the version of the law as I believe in it - a law that guarantees an increase in the recruitment base for the combat unit, reduces the burden on the serving public, and ensures that every haredi soldier can be discharged as a haredi."

"Unfortunately, representatives of the haredi factions in the Knesset are not willing to accept the outline I developed, even though it is based on the principles we agreed on all along."

The haredi parties announced today that Shas has decided to withdraw from the government this week due to the draft exemption law crisis.

The party announced that its Council of Torah Sages would meet tomorrow "for a decisive discussion regarding its continued participation in the government, following the severe and unacceptable harm to the status of Torah students."

The IDF is preparing for enhanced enforcement and a wave of arrests of those who are deemed draft evaders after failing to appear for the summonses sent to them. Inbar Goldner, head of the detainee department in the military police, said during a discussion held today in the Knesset's State Comptroller Committee: "The complementary move to enforcement is increasing the prison capacity in the military prison. We have already set up an additional company in the military prison for more detention places."

According to Goldner, at Ben Gurion Airport, the manpower for enforcing draft evaders has tripled: "Anyone who is a deserter or draft evader at the police terminals will be detained, and we will send teams to the site shortly and make an arrest. We are trying to build another layer of enforcement beyond traditional enforcement - smart enforcement that will manifest in roadblocks and crossings, in coordination with the Israel Police."

Brigadier General Shay Taib, head of the IDF's Planning and Human Resources Division, noted during the discussion that from July of last year to July of this year, 24,000 conscription orders were sent to young haredim. So far, 422 young people have been drafted, 98 of whom are combat soldiers. A total of about 1,200 individuals have appeared at various recruitment offices, 3,700 are under "Order 12" before an arrest order, and 1,300 are classified as draft evaders after more than 540 days from the date of the summons they failed to attend.