Israelis stage 'day of resistance' against judicial overhaul

Israeli protesters on Tuesday took to Tel Aviv's streets in the run-up to a parliament vote on a key component of the government's judicial reform agenda they say would "dismantle democracy".

The proposals have divided the nation and triggered one of the biggest protest movements in Israel's history since being unveiled in January by the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Weekly rallies across Israel have drawn tens of thousands of protesters aiming to prevent what they believe could open the way to more authoritarian government.

Crowds gathered in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, Israel's commercial hub, early on Tuesday after organisers had called for a "national day of resistance" ahead of a planned vote by lawmakers later this month.

Organisers urged supporters to rally at train stations, city squares and roundabouts across Israel.

Demonstrators holding Israeli flags and chanting "democracy, democracy" also entered the stock exchange building in Tel Aviv and staged a rally there, an AFP correspondent said.

"Faced with a government that... is rushing to dismantle democracy, we are the only ones, the citizens, who can stop the train of dictatorship," organisers said in a statement.

Josh Drill, a spokesman for the protest movement, said pressure on the government would continue through "non-violent acts of civil disobedience".

"We will continue to protest in the streets until the complete cancellation of the judicial overhaul," he told AFP.

The government temporarily paused the divisive legal overhaul in March in the wake of a general strike.

But in recent weeks it launched a new political offensive to pass the package in parliament. 

Parliament is due vote on a...