Netanyahu agrees to delay reforms to judiciary

Move follows mass protests over sacking of minister who called for halt to the overhaul

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late on Monday agreed to delay to April talks in Parliament over a controversial plan to overhaul the judiciary.

A statement from the far-right party Jewish Power said the proposed law would be pushed to the next session of Parliament in order to "pass the reform through dialogue". Parliament will be in recess next week for the Passover holiday.

Netanyahu's coalition plunged into chaos on Monday, after mass overnight protests over the sacking of his defence chief piled pressure on the government to halt its bitterly contested plans to overhaul the judiciary.

Netanyahu had been expected to make a televised statement on Monday morning announcing the plans he says are needed to restore balance to the system of government, but which critics see as a threat to democracy. Amid reports that his nationalist-religious coalition risked breaking apart, the statement was postponed while Netanyahu met heads of the parties.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of protesters returned to the streets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, many waving the blue and white Israeli flags that have become an emblem of the protests.

"For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately," President Isaac Herzog said on Twitter. The warning by Mr Herzog, who is supposed to be above politics and whose function is largely ceremonial, underlined the alarm the divisions opened up by the proposals have caused.