Thousands marched from Tel Aviv to West Jerusalem in opposition to the bill, and protests have continued.

Last minute talks to find a compromise, led by the country’s president, failed to stop Israel’s far-right government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, from pushing ahead with the vote.

The third and final vote on the bill passed 64-0 after a volatile session. The opposition boycotted it in protest, and stormed out of the chamber after chanting “shame”.

The law, part of a wider effort to overhaul the judiciary, prevents the Supreme Court from striking down government decisions.

Proponents say the current “reasonability” standard gives unelected judges excessive powers over decision-making by elected officials. But critics of the government says it removes a key element of the court’s oversight powers and opens the way for corruption and improper appointments.

After the vote, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the architect of the plan, said parliament had taken “first step in an important historic process” of overhauling the judiciary.

More mass protests were expected after the vote.

Earlier, demonstrators, many of whom feel the very foundations of their country are being eroded by the government’s plan, blocked a road leading up to the parliament, and big mall chains and some gas stations shuttered their doors in protest.

Further ratcheting up the pressure on Netanyahu, thousands of military reservists have declared their refusal to serve under a government taking steps that they see as setting the country on a path to dictatorship. Those moves have prompted fears that the military’s preparedness could be compromised.

“These are dangerous cracks,” military chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi wrote in a letter to soldiers Sunday meant to address the tensions. “If we will not be a strong and cohesive military, if the best do not serve in the IDF [Israeli army], we will no longer be able to exist as a country in the region.”

The vote came only hours after Netanyahu was released from the hospital, where he had a pacemaker implanted. His sudden hospitalization added another dizzying twist to an already dramatic series of events, which were watched closely in Washington. The Biden administration has frequently spoken out against Netanyahu’s government and its overhaul plan. In a statement to the news site Axios late Sunday, President Joe Biden warned against pushing ahead with the legal changes that were sparking so much division.

“Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn’t make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this – the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus,” he told the site.

Biden has also been critical of the government’s steps to deepen Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

The massive, sustained democracy protests have shunned mention of Israel’s 56-year occupation of lands the Palestinians seek for their hoped-for independent state, fearing the issue might alienate supporters. But critics portray this rule over another people as a major stain on Israel’s claim to be a liberal democracy and accuse the protesters of harboring a significant blind spot in their struggle.