On Sunday, Israeli lawmakers started discussing a bill that would limit the powers of the Supreme Court, renewing fierce opposition to judicial reform spearheaded by the religious-nationalist coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuters reports.

Anti-government demonstrations forced Netanyahu to put judicial reform on hold in March in order to negotiate compromises with opposition parties. Last week, he declared these negotiations fruitless and ordered the resumption of some legislative acts.

Proposed changes, which include limits on the ability of the court to rule against the government, had sparked frequent street protests even before the March halt, and on Saturday night, anti-renovation activists blocked Tel Aviv's main highway.
Coalition lawmakers said the new bill would be a much softer version of previous proposals, but the opposition says it still opens the door to corruption.

Critics see the judiciary overhaul as an attempt to limit the independence of the judiciary by Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges he denies.