Israeli government advances judicial overhaul despite uproar

(AP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has advanced a plan to overhaul the country’s legal system, defying a mass uproar among Israelis and calls for restraint from the United States.

A vote early on Tuesday marked only preliminary approval for the plan. But it raised the stakes in a battle that drew tens of thousands of protesters into the streets, sparked criticism from influential sectors of society and widened the rifts in an already polarised country.