Mr Netanyahu's administration's efforts to overhaul the judiciary have plunged Israel into one of its worst political crises in its history, sparking nationwide protests, crippling the economy and alarming Western allies.

Carrying blue and white Israeli flags, protesters marched for miles up the winding highway to Jerusalem under the scorching summer sun. “Democracy is not as secure as it used to be,” said protester Ido Golan.

Protesters had been marching through a heatwave for days, with numbers growing as they reached the city gates. Hundreds of thousands more protested across the country, including an estimated 100,000 in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv.

As night fell, they gathered outside the parliament building, where a debate will take place on Sunday and a vote later on a bill that would limit the Supreme Court's power to invalidate government decisions.

Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist coalition says the bill, which the Israeli parliament is expected to vote on Monday, is necessary to balance the branches of power. Critics say the amendment opens the door to abuses of power.

The crisis has even created divisions within the military. Dozens of former security chiefs, military members, police officers and others published an open letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Saturday calling for the vote to be canceled.

It is not known whether the disturbances are related to Prime Minister Netanyahu's health, but he had a pacemaker installed overnight from Saturday to Sunday, he said in a video statement released by his office.

"A week ago, I was fitted with a monitoring device. The device beeped tonight and said I had to get a pacemaker and I had to get it done tonight," Netanyahu said in the video.

His office said he would be examined at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer. Netanyahu was hospitalized there overnight on July 15 for what his office said was dehydration after returning from a vacation.

Hoang Anh (according to Reuters)