Hundreds of Israelis broke past a security barrier near Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on Sunday night as tensions reached boiling point over the prime minister's deeply unpopular legal reforms.

As tens of thousands demonstrated against Mr Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, video footage showed some protesters in Jerusalem surging past a security barrier as they marched on the residence in Gaza Street.

Police responded by spraying them with water cannons and many of the demonstrators had moved on to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, as of the early hours of Monday morning.

In Tel Aviv, tens of thousands took to the streets calling for Mr Netanyahu to step down, blocking major highways and setting alight bonfires in the streets.

Similar protests were unfolding across Israel in other towns and cities on Sunday night, amid unconfirmed reports that some police officers in a suburb near Tel Aviv had joined with the demonstrators.  

The massive, spontaneous protests were triggered by Mr Netanyahu refusing to abandon his hugely controversial legal reforms and sacking his defence minister, Yoav Galant, after he criticised the proposed overhaul.

Critics of Mr Netanyahu's legal reforms say they will transform the country into a "dictatorship" by weakening the Supreme Court and ramping up the government's influence over the appointment of judges.

His opponents also say Mr Netanyahu's attempts to overhaul the legal system are part of a wider bid to scrap his ongoing trial on fraud and corruption charges that he strongly denies.  

Hundreds of Israeli reservists have refused to report for duty in protest at the reforms, which is said to have raised fears in the defence establishment that Mr Netanyahu's refusal to back down is damaging national security.

"The growing social rift has made its way into the (army) and security agencies. It is a clear, immediate and tangible threat to Israel's security," said Mr Galant, a member of Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party.

"I am committed to Likud values... and placing the State of Israel above all... but major changes on the national level must be made through deliberations and dialogue," he said.

Mr Netanyahu reacted by sacking the minister, a move that prompted protest leaders to organise mass demonstrations in a matter of hours.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Mr Galant’s dismissal "harms national security and ignores warnings of all defense officials.” Separately, Israel’s consul general in New York City, Assaf Zamir, resigned in protest.

Later on Sunday night, there were reports in Israeli media that Mr Netanyahu was holding consultations on whether to pause the reform package until May.

In a sign of growing divisions in his party, Mr Netanyahu's Likud ally and sports minister Miki Zohar, on Sunday night told the broadcaster Channel 12 that the reforms should be paused “to allow things to calm down."

The wave of unrest comes during an already tense time in Israel due to the convergence of Passover and Ramadan in April, which raises the risk of clashes between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem.

Israel is also in the grip of a major security crisis as it continues to carry out raids on Palestinian militant groups in the northern West Bank, which have led to a spate of revenge attacks on Israeli civilians.

Mr Netanyahu’s government is pushing ahead for a parliamentary vote this week on a centerpiece of the overhaul — a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. It also seeks to pass laws that would grant parliament the authority to override Supreme Court decisions with a basic majority and limit judicial review of laws.