Israel’s Supreme Court struck down the first, and most moderate, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reforms on Monday in a close 8-7 decision that risked dividing the country again in the midst of an existential war against Hamas terrorists.

The opposition and far left, including the U.S. State Department-funded Movement for Government Quality, celebrated the ruling and warned Netanyahu not to resist it. Netanyahu and his governing coalition said they would delay reacting until after the war.

Israel’s judiciary is the most powerful in the democratic world, and is virtually unchecked. Netanyahu and his government won an election in 2022 with a large majority, partly on the basis of a promise to reform the judiciary. Most of the proposed reforms were parallel to existing practices in other democracies. The left, relegated to the minority, took to the streets and organized massive protests that observers likened to a “color revolution,” aimed at ousting Netanyahu or at least making him completely ineffective.