Israel's Parliament approved divisive legislation Monday that remakes part of the country’s justice system, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital after having a pacemaker fitted,
USA Today reports.
The law weakens Supreme Court oversight of the government. It was approved despite months of protests, the biggest in Israel's history, that have engulfed the nation's military, business and legal communities.
Opposition lawmakers, who boycotted the vote, shouted "shame" as the "reasonableness" bill was approved.
The judicial overhaul has divided Israel, testing the fragile social ties that bind the country, rattling the cohesion of its powerful military and repeatedly drawing concern from its closest ally, the United States. It is being driven by Netanyahu's governing coalition, which is made up of ultranationalist and ultra-religious parties.
Early Monday, protesters blocked a road leading to the Knesset, Israel's Parliament. Police used water cannons to push them back. Businesses across the country shuttered their doors in protest of the vote. The vote passed despite a warning from Israel's President Isaac Herzog Monday that Israel was in a "state of national emergency."
