Eli Yishai said in talks to join Kulanu party

Former Israeli interior minister and lawmaker Eli Yishai may join the centrist party Kulanu, according to a report published Sunday.

Yishai, who after years as a Knesset member with Shas failed to win a seat as chairman of the Yachad party last year, was said to be in secret talks with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who chairs Kulanu, in recent months.

According to the report in the daily Israel Hayom, Yishai is aiming for the number two slot in the party.

Both Kahlon and Yishai denied the existence of the talks.

Before founding Yachad, Yishai was the head of the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shas party, but stepped down upon the return to the party of former leader Aryeh Deri after he finished a jail term for graft.

The relatively liberal social policies recently adopted by Kahlon’s party would make it difficult for the former Shas leader to join Kulanu. Such policies, including support for gay marriage and public transportation on the Sabbath, would be anathema to the ultra-Orthodox Yishai.