JERUSALEM: Defying widespread protests, the Israeli parliament on Monday introduced a bill that would make it more difficult to remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because of corruption charges. The bill was also part of a larger plan to reform the country's legal system.

The bill that would enable the Knesset to declare a prime minister totally incapacitated from holding office for medical or mental reasons received preliminary approval from lawmakers during a late-night vote.

A motion allowing the Knesset to overturn Supreme Court rulings and enforce overturned laws was expected to be voted on by the body later. Before becoming law, both bills must receive additional votes.

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The action was the most recent in a string of reforms to Israel's legal system carried out by Netanyahu's coalition. The effort, according to the prime minister and his aides, is to control an active court.

According to critics, the initiative would strengthen the country's democratic checks and balances and power in the hands of Netanyahu and his parliamentary majority.

Despite demonstrations by thousands of Israeli protesters over the past two months, Netanyahu and his coalition partners in ultranationalist and religious movements have vowed to press ahead with the legal changes.

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Israeli reservists have threatened to stop reporting for duty if the overhaul is approved, and business executives, legal professionals and retired military leaders have joined the protests.

In a late-night vote, the Knesset approved a bill that would shield Netanyahu from calls for his ouster and replace an existing law that allows for the removal of a leader in other situations. The prime minister would have the right to veto the new bill, which would require the support of three-quarters of the government.

Netanyahu, who won Israel's fifth election in less than four years and returned to power late last year, attaches personal importance to the measure.

He is accused of cheating, breach of trust and taking bribes; He vigorously contests the charges. The blueprint of the legal process has been drawn for almost three years.

Good governance advocates and other detractors have urged the country's attorney general to disqualify Netanyahu from office.

Addressing members of his Likud party on Monday, Netanyahu attacked the Israeli media, claiming they are spreading a "never-ending tsunami of fake news" against him. He stressed that the new legal system would strengthen Israeli democracy.

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According to opposition MP Orna Barbivai, the bill is "an affront, which says the prime minister is above the law."

The Palestinian minority in Israel, which accounts for about 20% of the total population, has been largely absent from the demonstrations, partly because of the discrimination they face there as well as their Palestinian brothers and sisters in the West Bank and Gaza in Israel. Let's behave. ,