Israeli lawmakers on Monday passed a law stripping the Supreme Court of its power to block government decisions, the first part of a judicial overhaul that has sparked six months of street protests and criticism from the White House.
The controversial bill, which strips Israel's top judges of the power to declare government actions unreasonable, passed by a vote of 64-0. All members of the far-right governing coalition voted in favor of the bill, while all opposition lawmakers walked out of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, as the vote was taking place.
Huge crowds of angry protesters gathered outside, attempting to block access to the building. They were met with barbed wires and water cannons and at least 19 were arrested before the vote, according to Israel Police.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who left hospital on Monday morning after having been fitted with a pacemaker, pushed the bill through despite Israel's most important ally, the United States, issuing increasingly forceful warnings not to do so.
In a highly unusual step, the US President Joe Biden weighed in on the policy and warned that rushing the changes through without a broad consensus amounts to an erosion of democratic institutions and could undermine US-Israel relations.
"Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn't make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this -- the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus," Biden said in a statement provided to CNN.
Biden raised concerns directly with Netanyahu during a phone call last week and then called New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman to the Oval Office to make clear his stance on the judicial overhaul.
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