From January to October 2023, large-scale protests took place across Israel in response to the government's push for a wide-ranging judicial reform. The proposed reform aimed to give the government full control of the Supreme Court or court decisions through various ways. The government also attempted to dismantle the Israel Bar Association and change the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee.

The reform was promoted by Justice Minister Yariv Levin with the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leaders of the other parties in the governing coalition, but was opposed by opposition parties as well as a large segment of the Israeli public. They were faced with questions on how much, if at all, they should focus on Palestinian rights. Statements by Israeli figures linked the aim of the reform to the expansion of Israeli settlements and further annexation of Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. The protests were effective in delaying the reform, and the ruling coalition would have lost 11 seats in a new round of elections according to polls published by September 2023. In July 2023, the Knesset passed a law to abolish the Supreme Court's ability to review government actions on grounds of reasonableness, but it was repealed by the Supreme Court on 1 January 2024.

The protests came to an end following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the ensuing Gaza war, with sporadic demonstrations continuing until the formation of a war cabinet on 12 October. The protests partially resumed later in 2023, as part of broader protests in the country related to the war.

Since the political crisis beginning in 2018, multiple snap elections were held following unsuccessful attempts to form a governing coalition. The 2021 election was the first to have resulted in a successful government formation. The incumbent coalition, which held a one-seat majority, collapsed in June 2022 after a member defected. In the snap legislative election that followed, the incumbent government, led by Yair Lapid, was defeated by a coalition of right-wing parties, led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who formed a new government that took office on 29 December 2022.

On 4 January 2023, newly appointed Justice Minister Yariv Levin announced plans to reform Israel's judiciary, including limiting the power of the Supreme Court and of the government's legal councillors and granting the governing coalition a majority on the committee that appoints judges. Following the announcement, several organisations, including Crime Minister and Standing Together, announced their intention to organise protests in Tel Aviv on 7 January. On 17 January, the Supreme Court ruled that the recently appointed Interior Minister Aryeh Deri was unfit for the position due to his criminal record. Netanyahu, who was on trial for corruption-related charges himself, was forced to withdraw Deri.

After Netanyahu announced a pause in the judicial legislation on 27 March, counter-protesters started organising their own demonstrations, with tens of thousands protesting in favour of the changes. Negotiations aimed at reaching a compromise collapsed in June, and the government resumed its plans to pass parts of the legislation; in response, the anti-reform movement ramped up its activities.

The Jerusalem Post reported that funding for the anti-reform protests primarily came from the public, both in terms of small donations and through volunteer work; larger donors included tech entrepreneurs, as well as organizations including the New Israel Fund, Blue White Future, Our Way, and Commanders for Israel's Security. Supporters named in the article are Ilan Shiloah, Orni Petruschka, Itay Ben-Horin, and Idan Tendler.

The first protest took place on 7 January in Tel Aviv's Habima Square. It was initially organized by Standing Together, a socialist Arab-Jewish organisation, as a protest against the formation of the thirty-seventh government of Israel. Following Yariv Levin's announcement on 4 January that he planned to reform Israel's judiciary, other organisations, which included Crime Minister, joined the protest, leading a concurrent march from Habima. Omdim Beyachad's protest included Ayman Odeh as a guest speaker. The combined protests included approximately 20,000 people. In the meantime, a smaller protest took place in Haifa that was attended by 200 people. On 14 January, a second protest was organized at Habima, which was attended by approximately 80,000 protesters, and was joined by smaller rallies in Haifa and Jerusalem that were attended by several thousands.