US President Joe Biden urged Israel not to rush into increasingly "divisive" judicial reforms, given the other challenges facing the US ally.

In a statement initially published by the Axios news website and sent to AFP by the White House, Biden said it was "illogical for Israeli leaders to rush this matter," adding, "The focus should be on bringing people together and finding consensus."

"From the point of view of Israel's friends in the United States, the current judicial reform proposal seems to have become more divisive, not less," Biden continued.

On Sunday evening, Israeli President Isaac Herzog entered into negotiations for the last quarter of an hour in order to reach a settlement between the opposition and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, on the eve of Parliament's vote on a key clause in the judicial reform bill, which sparked unprecedented protests.

The Netanyahu government, which includes far-right and ultra-religious parties, plans to limit the powers of the Supreme Court, under the pretext that the changes are necessary to ensure a better balance of powers.

The controversial judicial reform proposed by Netanyahu's far-right government last January caused sharp divisions in Israel and one of the largest protest movements in the country's history.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of Jerusalem against Netanyahu's proposal to limit the powers of judges in a project that his opponents say would undermine democracy, while lawmakers began discussing a key item in it.

Opponents accuse the prime minister, who is being prosecuted on charges of corruption, which he denies, of seeking to pass reforms with the aim of overturning possible sentences against him.