One of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition partners said a deal had been reached to postpone a bitterly contested judicial overhaul, after an unprecedented backlash against the plans plunged the country’s politics into turmoil.

In a brief statement on Monday evening, the extreme-right Jewish Power party headed by Itamar Ben-Gvir said it had agreed to postpone the overhaul until the next parliamentary session in May to allow for “dialogue”.

There was no immediate response from the prime minister to Ben-Gvir’s statement, which came after a tumultuous 24 hours of protests and strikes that began after Netanyahu sacked his defence minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday night for calling for the judicial overhaul to be halted, warning that it posed a “tangible threat” to Israel’s security.

The resistance intensified as Monday wore on, with the country’s president imploring the government to suspend the overhaul, and its biggest union calling a strike, prompting diplomats at Israeli embassies around the world to stop work, and triggering the grounding of flights at the Ben Gurion international airport.

As the public dissent rippled through the economy — with ports, shopping mall chains and the country’s medical association also announcing strikes — Netanyahu’s government, widely regarded as the most rightwing in Israeli history, was gripped by deep divisions over how to respond to the mounting backlash.

Protesters in Tel Aviv
Protesters in Tel Aviv on Monday © Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
Earlier on Monday, a parliamentary committee controlled by a key architect of the overhaul held a tempestuous meeting to advance part of the legislation, as Ben-Gvir, the ultranationalist national security minister, insisted the government “must not surrender to anarchy”.

But others in the coalition, including three ministers, publicly called for a halt. Yariv Levin, the hawkish justice minister who has been one of the overhaul’s most fervent backers, said he would support whatever decision Netanyahu took. The government also defeated a no-confidence motion in parliament put forward by the opposition.

The fight over the proposals, which would significantly weaken the powers of the judiciary, has plunged Israel into its biggest political crisis in years, unsettling investors, alarming allies and sparking the biggest wave of protests in more than a decade.

Israel’s president Isaac Herzog had called on Netanyahu to back down, warning that the “entire nation is rapt with deep worry”. His comments followed expressions of concern from the US, with President Joe Biden’s administration urging Israeli politicians to de-escalate the crisis.

Former prime minister Ehud Barak described the crisis as the “most severe” since the modern state of Israel was founded in 1948.“It’s a threat to our democracy and our way of life,” he told an event hosted by the Chatham House think-tank in London.

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Mass protests have taken place in Israel every week since the government unveiled its plans in January. Further demonstrations were planned for Monday evening, including one in favour of the judicial reforms. Amid concerns of violence, Netanyahu urged supporters from both right and left, to “behave responsibly”.

Supporters say the changes — which will give the government and its allies greater control over the appointment of judges and limit the top court’s ability to strike down laws — are needed to rein in an activist judiciary that has pushed a partisan leftwing agenda.

But critics see the overhaul as a fundamental threat to Israel’s checks and balances that would weaken minority protections, foster corruption and damage the economy.

Israeli media reported that protests took place in more than 150 locations on Sunday, with thousands blocking a main highway in Tel Aviv, and others clashing with police outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem.

As public anger mounted, a group of universities said they would strike, and Israel’s consul-general in New York quit in protest. Municipalities and local councils also announced they would stop work, while bank branches began to close.

The outpouring of anger has also drawn in the military, with increasing numbers of reservists threatening not to report for training, sparking fears that the military’s capabilities are being undermined.

Netanyahu said last week that the government would press ahead with the overhaul and bring the amendment that would give it greater control over judicial appointments to parliament for a final vote this week.

Additional reporting by Andrew England in London