Likud party signs first coalition deal with Israeli far-right

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative Likud party signed its first coalition deal with the far-right Jewish Power party, Likud said in a statement on Friday.

The agreement does not account for a full and final new government in Israel but gives ultranationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir the police ministry and a seat in the security cabinet. 

Netanyahu, 73, who is on trial for corruption, will likely be buoyed by a loyal and comfortable governing majority that could grant him a lifeline from conviction.

Defenders of the justice system say the proposed changes would allow legislators to abuse their authority and disrupt the tenuous balance of powers that keeps them in check.