Ending talks boycott, Kulanu to discuss joining coalition

Key party reportedly patches up feud with Likud after hearing powerful Finance Committee post still up for grabs

By ToI Staff 29 March 2015, 12:49 am

Edit

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embraces outgoing Minister Moshe Kahlon at the Likud Central Committee meeting in Tel Aviv in 2012. (photo credit: Roni Schutzer/FLASH90)

Kulanu party head Moshe Kahlon is reportedly set to join negotiations with the Likud party over joining a governing coalition, ending a boycott of the talks over reports that a key economic post had been promised to another faction.

Kulanu party officials spoke with Likud counterparts Saturday night, and agreed to sit down for a formal meeting Sunday evening, Hebrew-language news site Ynet reported Saturday.

Kahlon had boycotted the first round of exploratory meetings between Likud and other parties on Thursday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu official embarked on his bid to cobble together a government.

With 10 seats of the Knesset’s 120, Kulanu is considered to be a linchpin for any coalition.

Kahlon, a popular former Likud minister, is thought to be a natural partner for Netanyahu, but has reportedly demanded the party be awarded control of both the Finance Ministry and the powerful Knesset Finance Committee, a post also coveted by ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism.

Kahlon was promised the Finance Ministry post by Netanyahu during campaigning, but apparently canceled his party’s meeting with Likud Thursday after reports indicated the Finance Committee would go to UTJ MK Moshe Gafni.

The Kulanu party leader said he backed out of the meeting to protest Likud handing out key positions before official coalition talks officially began, which would make it more difficult to enact economic reforms, Israel Radio reported.

Both Likud and UTJ indicated over the weekend that the issue was still under discussion and not a done deal, Ynet reported.

Netanyahu’s Likud won elections earlier in the month with 30 seats. On Wednesday, he was officially tasked by President Reuven Rivlin with forming a government.

Netanyahu will have until May 7 to present his coalition to the president, with an option to extend talks for another two weeks.

The party is slated to hold meetings with UTJ and Shas Sunday morning in the hopes of getting them into the coalition quickly, according to Ynet.

Meretz, Yesh Atid, Zionist Union and the Joint (Arab) List are expected to sit in the opposition.