A group of Israelis describing themselves as reservists in elite military and intelligence units said they would not turn up for some duties from Sunday, escalating protests at the hard-right government's planned judicial overhaul.
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, which wields a Knesset majority, say they want bills that would limit the authority of the Supreme Court to be written into law by April 2.
Reuters could not verify the signatories' identities and the secrecy around the units they said they belong to also made it difficult to assess the protest's potential impact. Netanyahu calls the judicial overhaul a restoration of balance between the branches of government. Critics see a gambit by the prime minister - who is under trial on corruption charges that he denies - to subordinate the courts to the executive.
Netanyahu has condemned the protests' reach into the military ranks as an attempt to subvert an institution meant to be above politics. Such misgivings have been voiced by some opposition leaders, while others say an authoritarian tilt in government would throw the idea of national duty into question.
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