A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister for opposing the reform, sparking extensive public protests, Israel's President Isaac Herzog asked the government to put a stop to the fiercely contested judicial makeover.
"I call on you to suspend the legislative process immediately for the unity of the people of Israel and the sake of duty," Herzog said on Twitter.
The warning was given by the head of state, whose position is mostly ceremonial and who is meant to be beyond politics, to highlight the worry that these actions have generated. In a spectacular night of protests, thousands of protestors flooded the streets of Israel's towns when Netanyahu revealed that he had sacked the Defense Minister.
Gallant had warned in a televised plea the day before that the military and the security of the nation were in risk because the government's big overhaul of the judicial system had caused a huge divide in Israeli society.