STORY: "Israel is not a dictatorship, Democracy!" the protesters called, waving blue and white Israeli flags in protests in Ramat Hasharon and Tel Aviv. The main highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was also blocked by protesters who sat on the road with barbwire and chanted.

Demonstrations were expected to intensify nationwide in what protest organizers have dubbed a "day of disruption." Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he would not allow a "mutiny," or "anarchists" to block roads.

The reform was proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition government in January. It includes giving the government decisive sway in picking judges and limits the scope of the Supreme Court to strike down legislation or rule against the executive.

Critics say that this would greatly weaken judicial independence, given Israel has no constitution and only one house of parliament that is controlled by the coalition.