Kulanu

Kulanu ( , ) was a centrist political party in Israel founded by Moshe Kahlon that focused on economic and cost-of-living issues.

Kulanu ( , ) was a centrist political party in Israel founded by Moshe Kahlon that focused on economic and cost-of-living issues.

History

The party was established on 27 November 2014 following months of speculation that Kahlon would form a new party after he took a break from politics in 2013. Opinion polls in the summer of 2014 had suggested that a new party formed by Kahlon could win 5–8 seats in the Knesset. When the party was established, its registration forms listed Kahlon, Orna Angel and Avi Gabbay as its founders. Although the party initially lacked a name, on 10 December 2014 it was announced that it would be named Kulanu. In the week following its establishment, initial opinion polls put it at 10–13 seats. Polls also projected that if Kulanu formed a list with Yesh Atid, the alliance could win 24 seats in the 20th Knesset, which would have made it the largest faction. However, Kahlon and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid both denied their parties would form a joint ticket. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly offered Kahlon the post of Finance Minister as well as portfolios for others in the next government if he agreed to a joint ticket with Likud, but Kahlon declined. Nevertheless, Likud admitted on the day of the 2015 Israeli elections to having forged a recording of Kahlon promising to support Netanyahu that had been distributed to voters the night prior. Calling the forgery "criminal", Kahlon asked for an investigation by the election committee. On 17 April 2020, a source close to Kahlon told Al-Monitor that Kahlon was speeding up his already-planned retirement from Netanyahu's government and was now planning to resign before a new Israeli government was formed.

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