Israeli police clashed on Wednesday with protesters rallying against the government’s judicial reform programme which critics say threatens democracy, as lawmakers held a preliminary vote on the latest controversial bill.

Demonstrators in Tel Aviv blocked some streets, and police employed stun grenades, water cannon and officers on horseback in a rare use of force in the coastal city, AFP journalists said.

Some 39 people were arrested for “allegedly rioting and not obeying instructions by police officials”, police said in a statement.

Eleven wounded protesters arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital, a spokesman for the facility told AFP.

“The right to demonstrate is not the right to block the country,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement, accusing demonstrators of crossing “a red line”.

“A sovereign country cannot tolerate anarchy,” added Netanyahu, who returned to power late last year at the head of a coalition with ultra-Orthodox Jewish and extreme-right allies.

The premier earlier stressed his support for the police, who “are acting against lawbreakers who are disrupting Israeli citizens’ daily lives”.

The rally in Tel Aviv came as lawmakers in Jerusalem passed in preliminary reading a bill limiting the chances of a prime minister being impeached.

Opponents say the measure is aimed at protecting Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges he denies.

MPs voted 62 to 20 in favour of the legislation, which proposes a three-quarter parliamentary majority to impeach a premier due to physical or mental incapacity.

Following the initial vote, the bill will pass to a parliamentary committee to consider whether it should be scrapped or returned to the chamber to continue the legislative process.(AFP)