TENS of thousands of people spilled into the streets of cities across Israel on Saturday to oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious plan to overhaul the judicial system.

This comes as a row broke out between Israel and the United Nations over the brutal attack on the Jenin refugee camp last week.

The grassroots movement has staged protests for over six months since Mr Netanyahu’s government unveiled the overhaul plan. But in recent weeks, the protests had shown signs of weakening.

Plans by the government to push forward with the overhaul next week in parliament, coupled with the firing of Tel Aviv’s police chief, who was accused of being too sympathetic to the protesters, appeared to breathe new life into Saturday’s demonstrations.

Some 150,000 people thronged central Tel Aviv, with large rallies in Jerusalem and other major cities. 

Late Saturday, dozens of people were prevented by the police from blocking Tel Aviv’s main highway, leading to the outbreak of scuffles.

The police used a water canon to disperse the crowd.

Mr Netanyahu’s ultra right-wing coalition government has proposed a series of changes to the Israeli legal system aimed at weakening what they say are the excessive powers of unelected judges. 

The proposed changes include giving Mr Netanyahu’s allies control over the appointment of judges and the power to overturn court decisions they do not support.

His opponents, including wide swathes of Israeli society, say the plan will destroy the country’s fragile system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies. 

Critics also say Mr Netanyahu has a conflict of interest because he is on trial for corruption charges. 

A legislative committee controlled by the government last week approved a Bill that would prevent Israel's courts from scrutinising the “reasonableness” of decisions made by elected officials. 

Meanwhile Israel’s UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to retract his condemnation of Israel for its excessive use of force in last week’s deadly attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Mr Guterres said on Thursday: “I strongly condemn all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror.”

Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan called the UN chief’s remarks “shameful, far-fetched, and completely detached from reality.”

He said the Israeli military action in Jenin “focused solely on combating the murderous Palestinian terror targeting innocent Israeli civilians.”

But UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said the secretary-general stands by the views he expressed on Thursday.