Last-Minute Deal Allows Netanyahu to Keep Power

It came down to the final hour, literally, but Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a deal to form a new government, reports AP. Netanyahu faced a deadline of midnight local time to scrape together a coalition following Likud's victory in the March elections, and he needed nearly every minute of that time. The late deal with the pro-settler Jewish Home Party is expected to give Netanyahu control of 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset and thus "little margin for error," reports the Wall Street Journal. Details are skimpy at this point, but the New York Times reports that Netanyahu had to make major concessions and will end up with a coalition "that Israeli experts said was unlikely to last long or do much." (More Benjamin Netanyahu stories.)