Israel's Supreme Court issued an injunction on Friday temporarily freezing the dismissal of the head of the domestic intelligence service as protestors returned to the streets for a fourth day.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last week that he had lost confidence in Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and intended to dismiss him, prompting tens of thousands to join demonstrations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv this week protesting the sacking, which critics saw as an attempt to undermine key state institutions.

"I'm looking at the end of the way of Israel as we knew it in the past. We are very concerned that these are the last days of Israel as a democracy," said Uri Arnin, an entrepreneur who joined a protest outside Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence.

"We are here to try and change this course, but the chances are not very high," he said.

Netanyahu, with a secure majority in parliament and bolstered by the return of hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has been able to brush off the protests, but they underline divisions in Israeli society that have deepened since his return to power at the end of 2022.

The dismissal of Bar followed more than two years of hostility between Netanyahu supporters and elements of the security and defence establishment that was worsened by blame over the failures that allowed Hamas' Oct 7, 2023 attack, the worst security disaster in Israel's history.

As the battle over the Shin Bet chief widened, Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that a motion of no confidence in Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara, a frequent target of the government's ire, had been put on the agenda for the regular weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.

The Prime Minister's office declined to comment.