Ex-general Yoav Galant to join Kahlon’s party

Kulanu party leader Moshe Kahlon was set to present the newest celebrity draft to his growing Knesset slate on Thursday night: former chief of Southern Command Maj. Gen. (res.) Yoav Galant.

Galant may be placed second on the list, followed by the previously announced candidates, former ambassador to Washington Michael Oren, Jerusalem deputy mayor Rachel Azaria, poverty advocate and Israel Prize laureate Eli Alaluf and Kiryat Shemona deputy mayor Yifat Sasa-Bitton.

Galant, who began his military career in the elite Shayetet 13 naval commando unit, is a highly regarded military strategist and was former defense minister Ehud Barak’s choice for the next IDF chief of staff in 2010.

Initially approved by the government, his appointment was subsequently canceled when questions arose over his possibly accidental appropriation of public lands for the construction of his home in the rural Galilee village of Amikam some 20 minutes’ drive from Haifa.

Galant is a relatively well-known and popular figure among Israel’s ex-generals — a recent Knesset Channel report suggested he could add as many as four seats to a party slate — and was reportedly pursued by several parties hoping to enlist him. He was rumored to be a candidate for appointment to the Likud party’s Knesset slate as well.

Kahlon is expected to announce his complete, final Knesset list of some 30 names next Thursday. Nehemia Gershuni’s average of the last six polls (Hebrew link), corrected for per-party polling errors over the past three election cycles, gives Kahlon eight out of 120 seats in the March 17 election.