More Jewish or more democratic? Israel protests become fight for country's 'essential character'

The streets of Israel have boiled with anger and frustration for three months. And they continue to seethe even after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayu paused — just a little — in his quest to rein in the country’s judges.

He will allow a few weeks for protests to calm and a “broad consensus” to emerge, he said on Monday, before continuing with his controversial plan to reform the judicial system. 

It’s a package of laws that will curtail the power of Supreme Court judges over the elected government, among other moves designed to give Israel’s Knesset — its parliament — the