Israel’s ceremonial president has urged an immediate halt to the country’s planned judicial overhaul after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s newly announced proposal prompted tens of thousands of people to gather in the streets in protest.

Isaac Herzog’s plea comes hours after Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who condemned the plan which includes government reforms. Universities across the country have shut their doors in protest and trade unions are also expected to call for a general strike.

The plea also comes as reservists of Israel's military joined mass protests outside Netanyahu’s home in Tel Aviv on Sunday, raising concerns the protests could potentially escalate into violence, officials said.

According to Dan Arbell, a scholar-in-residence at the Center for Israeli Studies at American University, Israeli Defense Forces reservists mostly remain out of political protests and their presence adds significance to the tens of thousands that have since gathered.

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The reservists are mainly composed of former combat pilots, special forces members, and military intelligence officers, who will not answer calls for military service should the Netanyahu-led Knesset carry through with its planned overhaul, they have said.

The controversial plan includes passing legislation that would increase the legislative branch's control over the lawmaking process, among other instrumental initiatives.

"The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society — all are under threat," President Herzog said. "Wake up now!"

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Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former ally turned rival of Netanyahu, highlighted the severity of the ongoing crisis during an interview with Israeli Army Radio, where he said Israel was "in a landslide of losing control."

"We haven't been in such a dangerous situation in 50 years," Bennett said.

First, the plan would give Knesset — and not the courts — final control over new legislation as it would create an "override clause" that allows a simple majority of the parliament to re-enact any law struck down by the Supreme Court.

Netanyahu has publicly argued that unelected Supreme Court justices wield too much power.

"We must all stand up strongly against refusals," Netanyahu tweeted Sunday.

His Likud party similarly argued the judicial branch was too strong and said they favor restoring "balance… for selecting judges and abolishing the undemocratic situation in which the judges appoint themselves."

"This method in which the representatives of the public choose judges is used in almost all democracies in the world," the political party said. "The claim that the abolition of the mechanism by which the judges appoint themselves is the 'end of democracy' lacks foundation."

Gallant, who is a member of Netanyahu's ruling Likud party, was critical of the proposed change and said in a televised speech on Saturday that it is "a clear, immediate and tangible danger to the security of the state."

"As Minister of Defense of the State of Israel, I emphasize that the growing rift in our society penetrates the IDF and security agencies," Gallant said per the report. "I will not allow this. But now, I declare loudly and publicly, for the sake of Israel's security, for the sake of our sons and daughters – the legislative process should be stopped."

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The legislation also changes the process for adding constitutional amendments and judicial appointments.

The courts are the only check to the executive and legislative branches, which are jointly controlled by the ruling coalition. According to Arbell, the new plan weakens the courts and increases the power of the coalition in charge, which is currently Netanyahu’s Likud party.

The party explained in a tweet on Monday, March 20: "The law does not allow the coalition or the opposition to take over the court, but guarantees that there will be diversity in the composition of the judges."

Supreme Court President Esther Hayut gave a public speech on Jan. 12, when she warned the proposed reforms are "meant to be a mortal wound to the independence of the judiciary and to turn it into a silent institution," Arbell reported.

Netanyahu reportedly spent Sunday evening consulting with advisors and is set to address the protests later Monday.

In addition to changing the relationship between the legislative and judicial branches of government, Netanyahu's intended government reforms include accelerating the privatization of the country’s media — allowing those in power to favor friendly outlets while also being able to brand less-than-friendly outlets as hostile, Arbell reported.

Another reform allows businesses the option to exclude certain customers or services based on owners’ or employees’ religious convictions.

The prime minister contends the legislation, which critics argue is potentially discriminatory, will protect religious practices.

"We will not advance any law against the Christian community," Netanyahu said on Twitter last week.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, and the Lukid party regained control of the government on Dec. 29, 2022.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The stunning cherry trees of Washington, D.C., a gift from Japan that blossom spectacularly each spring in a cherished symbol of renewal, were planted by first lady Helen Herron Taft and other dignitaries on this day in history, March 27, 1912. 

"The blossoms are officially in peak bloom!" the National Cherry Blossom Festival enthused in an online announcement Thursday, marking the eagerly anticipated highlight of spring tourism season in the nation's capital. 

Opening ceremonies of the annual festival, which takes place this year through April 16, were held Saturday.

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The original shipment of 3,020 cherry trees, representing 12 different varieties of the flowering fruit trees, arrived in Washington, D.C., on March 26, 1912 — a living symbol of goodwill from the people of Tokyo presented by Mayor Yukio Ozaki

Officials wasted no time in planting them in a spot of national prestige around the Tidal Basin the following day. 

Mayor Ozaki was joined in the ceremony by officials from both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

"The first lady and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the ambassador of Japan, planted the first two trees on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park, a location that today is memorialized with a simple bronze plaque at the Japanese Stone Lantern Plaza," according to the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

The effort to beautify Washington, D.C., with cherry trees was championed by Eliza Ruhaham Scidmore, a journalist, photographer and cognoscente of Asian cultures. 

Among other claims to fame, she was the first woman to serve on the board of directors of the National Geographic Society.

"Cherry blossoms, known in Japan as sakura, are well known around the world for their radiant, delicate and transient beauty," reports the Japan National Tourism Organization. 

"However, they are more than simply beautiful trees, as sakura have strong ties to Japan’s history, culture and identity."

The U.S. National Park Service says, "For more than 100 years, (the U.S. and Japan) have celebrated cherry trees blooming in solidarity."

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The two nations enjoyed strong relations at the start of the 20th century.

The United States, among other examples of the state of the relationship, supported Japan in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. American shipyards built warships for Japan during the conflict. 

The Taft-Katsura Agreement was negotiated after the war between then Secretary of War William H. Taft and Prime Minister of Japan Katsura Taro. It was a statement of joint interests in the Pacific Ocean. 

The solidarity represented by the cherry trees planted a few short years after the agreement, during the Taft administration, was torn apart violently by Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. 

More than 2,400 Americans were killed in the savage attack. 

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The cherry trees in Washington, D.C., became an obvious target of America's rage as it was thrust into World War II. 

"On the night of Dec. 10, 1941, an unknown number of vandals cut down four of the trees on the west side of the Basin," the National Park Service notes.

"Two of the trees were original 1912 specimens. One tree was also marked with ‘To Hell With the Japanese.’"

The Cherry Blossom Festival was canceled from 1942 to 1947 while Washington, D.C., became the brain center of the Allied war effort.

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Adds the National Park Service, "Many people insisted on re-naming the trees as ‘Oriental’ Cherry Trees. Customers complained if stores carried Japanese merchandise. The Freer Gallery of Art hid away all its Japanese works of art."

Tokyo, which 33 years earlier gave the United States its now-cherished cherry trees, was devastated by U.S. forces in a massive bombing raid in early March 1945. 

The ensuing firestorm killed an estimated 100,000 people and proved the deadliest bombing raid of World War II, with more casualties than the atomic bombings of either Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

The beautiful cherry trees of Washington, D.C., again became a symbol of international unity, hopes of peace and a shared love of natural beauty after the war, as the nations worked to overcome the human tragedy of armed conflict.

"After Japan’s defeat in 1945, the United States and Japan gradually became friends again, and nowadays, the National Cherry Blossom Festival is a major annual event," writes the National Park Service. 

"There has been no further vandalism to the trees, except from the occasional beaver."