Israel’s President Calls to Scrap Judicial Overhaul as Protests Mount

Israelis demonstrate against the contentious judicial overhaul, near the house of Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who supports and leads the judicial changes, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Modiin, Israel March 9, 2023. (Reuters)

Israel's president urged the government to abandon attempts to push through bitterly contested plans to overhaul the judiciary and seek a model with broad support as tens of thousands of protesters returned to the streets on Thursday.

The drive by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right government to enact sweeping changes to Israel's courts has sparked domestic uproar and alarm among the country's Western allies. If the proposal passed, it would mean greater government sway in selecting judges and limit the power of the Supreme Court to strike down legislation.