Kulanu

Kulanu ( he, כולנו, lit. ''All of Us'') 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 was initially nameless, on 10 December 2014 it was announced that it would be called 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 April 17, 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 is formed.

2015 candidate list

The party's candidate list for the 2015 election was:
# Moshe Kahlon, former Likud MK and Kulanu party founder and chairman.
# Yoav Galant, retired IDF major general (remains in reserves) and former head of IDF Southern Command.
# Eli Alaluf, former head of the Israel anti-poverty commission. Alaluf was originally in the number eight spot, and Tsega Melaku, Ethiopian-born Israeli and Israel Radio broadcaster, was originally in the number three spot. However, Melaku was disqualified by the Israeli Central Elections Committee because she did not resign from her state broadcasting position before the required hundred-day "cooling-off period" in advance of election day.
# Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the United States (2009–2013). Oren's candidacy was announced by Kahlon early on 24 December 2014.
# Rachel Azaria, deputy mayor of Jerusalem and feminist leader known for activism against exclusion of women.
# Tali Ploskov, Moldovan-born Israeli, mayor of Arad and former member of Yisrael Beytenu. Alaluf was formerly in the spot, but he was moved to number three.
# Dr. Yifat Shasha-Biton, education expert and former Kiryat Shemona deputy mayor.
# Eli Cohen, accountant and vice president of Israel Land Development Company.
# Roy Folkman, former adviser to Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat.
# Meirav Ben-Ari, attorney and Tel Aviv council member.
# Shai Babad, former CEO of Zim Integrated Shipping Services and former director-general of the Second Authority Broadcasting Company. He resigned in December 2014 in order to run.
# Akram Hasson, former Kadima party leader.
# Asher Fentahun Seyoum

Economist and professor Manuel Trajtenberg was reportedly asked by Kahlon to join his list, but declined and chose to run with the Zionist Union alliance (the joint Labor and Hatnuah list) instead.

Orna Angel and Hapoel Be'er Sheva chair Alona Barkat were speculated to be possible candidates with Kahlon, but ultimately they did not appear on the list. Tsega Melaku, previously director of Israel Radio's Reshet Alef station, author and an active member of Israel's Ethiopian community, joined the party and was initially named to its candidate list. However, she was disqualified because she had not left her government position far enough in advance to meet the "cooling off" requirement.

Politics and ideology

Kahlon is known for his support for egalitarian economics and for issues affecting the middle class, although he also maintains a strong working-class appeal. Born himself to an immigrant Libyan family of modest means, Kahlon's target base was lower-middle class Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. He has posited Kulanu as a centrist party and sought to appeal to both populist and socially liberal camps.

As communications minister, he earned popularity by taking on Israel's wireless cartel and forcing them to lower mobile phone prices by introducing new competitors, a move he hopes to replicate with the banking and real estate sectors. His political focus is on tackling poverty, income inequality and the housing crisis. His platform aims to break up both private and public monopolies as well as lower the high cost of living. Traditionally known for a hard line on security matters, Kahlon has in more recent times suggested support for territorial compromise for a two-state solution. He has said he is "a product of the Likud", but that his "worldview is center, slightly leaning to the right". Within Likud, he was known to be socially liberal. Ari Shavit wrote in January 2015 that Kulanu had the potential to be the true successor to the national liberalism of Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Menachem Begin. Kahlon has said his party represents the Likud of Begin which according to him was socially conscious

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