Sawt Falasteen - Israel PM in parliament for key legal reform vote as protests flare

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was back in the Knesset -- only a day after undergoing surgery to have a pacemaker installed -- as police outside the legislature used water canon against a crowd of demonstrators.

President Isaac Herzog, who has been trying to broker a compromise after half a year of weekly mass street protests, warned that "we are in a national emergency".

Critics fear the proposed judicial revamp will undermine Israel's liberal democracy by removing checks and balances on the executive, while the government argues it needs to curb judicial overreach.

Netanyahu, 73, arrived at the parliament ahead of final vote on the draft law which would limit judges' ability to strike down government decisions they deem not to be "reasonable".

His coalition government, which includes far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies, argues that the proposed reforms are needed to ensure a better balance of power.

As the crisis looked set to peak, Israel's traditional bedrock ally Washington reiterated its concern about the political turmoil, with Biden urging Israeli leaders to postpone the vote.

"From the perspective of Israel's friends in the United States, it looks like the current judicial reform proposal is becoming more divisive, not less," he said in a statement first published by news site Axios and later shared with AFP.

"It doesn't make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this -- the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus."

- 'Fighting for democracy' -

Herzog, just back from a Washington trip, had gone straight to Netanyahu's hospital room on Sunday, in a last-minute effort to reach a compromise.

Amid what he termed Israel's "national emergency," Herzog warned that "there are foundations for understandings, but gaps that demand from the sides to show responsibility still remain".

Netanyahu had said Sunday afternoon that "we're continuing our efforts to complete the legislation, and the efforts to do it in agreement" with the opposition.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the driving force behind the reforms, said the bill being put to lawmakers had already undergone changes to accommodate critics, but added that the ruling coalition was still open to "understandings".

"Understandings means the opposition's willingness to make concessions too," he told supporters at a Tel Aviv rally on Sunday.

Opponents accuse Netanyahu, who has been fighting corruption charges in court, of a conflict of interest, and some protesters have labelled him the "crime minister".

"Today, the first law that will begin toppling Israel's democracy will probably pass," said Shahaf Kushinsky, 34, a high-tech worker who protested near parliament.

"That will in essence give the government unlimited power. ... This is the gateway to a dictatorship and that's why we're here. We're fighting for our democracy."

- 'Message to world' -

If approved, the "reasonableness" clause would be the first major component of the reform package to become law.

Other proposed changes include allowing the government a greater say in the appointment of judges.

The protests have drawn support from across the political and social spectrum, among secular and religious groups, peace activists, blue-collar and tech sector workers, and military reservists.

The political battle over the judicial overhaul comes against a backdrop of rising Palestinian-Israeli violence.

"We are defending our democracy with our bodies," said Gal, 52, a law professor.

"The plan is to do whatever possible, to send a message to the world that we need an intervention now, any intervention, to stop this."

O.Mousa--SF-PST