Israeli lawmakers have started debating a controversial bill which would limit the Supreme Court's powers.

The debate reboots the controversial judicial overhaul instigated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition.

Netanyahu had suspended bringing forward the bill in March after rafts of anti-government demonstrations and to allow compromise talks with opposition parties. 

However, the Israeli PM has now said those talks were fruitless and ordered some of the legislation to be revived.

Ahead of the Knesset debate on Sunday (June 25th), anti-overhaul activists blocked a major Tel Aviv highway on Saturday night.

Opposition lawmakers said the new proposed bill would hurt Israeli democracy's “delicate checks and balances”.

According to Reuters, Labour lawmaker Gilad Kariv said as the debate began: “You are renewing a legislation blitz meant to destroy the justice system's independence and badly hurt Israeli democracy's delicate checks and balances.”

Meanwhile, opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Netanyahu to stop the legislation and revive negotiations "until we reach agreements that will safeguard democracy and prevent a national disaster".

The proposed changes included curbs on the court's ability to rule against the government.

However, coalition lawmakers have indicated that the new bill would be a far softer version of previous proposals that had sought to almost totally roll back the Supreme Court's power to rule against the executive.

Coalition politicians also argue the bills goal is to balance the powers of the government, legislature and judiciary by reining in a Supreme Court they see as too interventionist. 

According to Hebrew-language media, the coalition hopes to pass the bill before the end of the Knesset’s summer session.