The head of Israel's main public sector union said on Monday, said he would meet with other union officials to discuss the possibility of declaring a general strike after parliament ratified a key element in a controversial judicial overhaul plan.

The law removes the power of the Supreme Court to overrule government actions it considers unreasonable.

It is the first in a series of bitterly contested reforms aimed at curbing the power of courts.

The planned reforms has triggered some of the biggest protests in Israel's history, with opponents warning they imperil Israel as a democracy.

The government argues that the measures are necessary to correct an imbalance in power which has seen the courts increasingly intervene in political decisions in recent decades.

Speaking about a possible general protest, the Chairman of Histadrut Labour Federation, Arnon Bar-David has been trying to mediate a compromise between the government and opposition, stressing that the differences were minor but mediation efforts failed due to political whims.

"From this moment on, any unilateral progress in the reform will have serious consequences ... Either things will progress with broad agreement or they will not progress at all," said Bar-David.

He said he would meet with Histadrut officials to declare a "general labor dispute in the economy," and will "activate it if necessary until a complete shutdown is achieved."