Israeli Knesset takes major step towards judicial overhaul with controversial bill.

The Israeli parliament has passed the first reading of a bill that would allow it to overrule Supreme Court rulings and enact laws that had been struck down, alongside bills that would protect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from removal and allow more settlements in the northern occupied West Bank. Critics say the drive would upend the country’s checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his parliamentary majority. The bills require additional votes before being enshrined into law.