Kahlon rules out merger with Likud: ‘We’re not mercenaries’

The center-right Kulanu party leader Moshe Kahlon ruled out on Tuesday a rumored union of his party and the ruling Likud.

“The Kulanu party is independent and will remain independent,” he told reporters at the Knesset on the day the 21st Knesset was sworn in.

Sources familiar with the nascent coalition talks between the two parties said last week that Likud was looking to invite Kulanu to merge into a single faction, raising the ruling party’s total Knesset representation from 35 seats to 39.

But Kahlon has been wary of the move, according to reports.

The media reports about talks to unify the parties were untrue, Kahlon insisted on Tuesday, calling them “headlines commissioned” by other political actors.

“We came here to be partners, not mercenaries,” he said in rejecting the idea of a merger.

“The coalition talks are just getting started. I suggest that no one get too excited about some headline or another that comes out,” he cautioned. “This is the part [of the negotiations] with [manipulative] headlines, spin and fake news.”

He added that his party would stand resolute “to ensure that what guides this government is the welfare of the public, of the citizen,” and would oppose populism and incitement.

Kahlon cut his teeth as a Likud politician — the new Knesset is the fifth in which he has served — passing popular reforms as communications minister before leaving the party and taking a break from politics in 2012 amid rumors of tensions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He founded Kulanu in 2015, becoming the most senior partner in the Netanyahu-led government following that year’s election, with 10 seats.

If he joins the new coalition, Kulanu’s current four seats will make it the smallest party in the government. Despite his poorer showing, Kahlon is insisting on keeping the Finance Ministry for himself and having MK Eli Cohen stay on as economy minister.

Netanyahu has reportedly offered Kahlon the post of foreign minister, which Kahlon has thus far declined.

The demands of Kulanu, a party that has focused on economic issues, are thought to pale in comparison to those that will be made by Netanyahu’s other likely coalition partners.

Netanyahu has until mid-May, and possibly several weeks longer, to assemble a coalition, after President Reuven Rivlin asked him to form a government.