Netanyahu’s decision to call for new elections reflects a badly divided cabinet. What else could you have when your cabinet is made of religious fanatics, a far right Foreign Secretary (Avigdor Lieberman) and a peacenik like Zippi Livni? In contrast Moshe Kahlon, Communications Minister, was the most popular Cabinet minister in the Netanyahu’ government, pushing daring reforms.
Prior to the 2013 election Kahlon abruptly quit politics over differences with Netanyahu. Now he’s back with a new centrist party that could tip the scales in favor of those seeking to topple the longtime Israeli leader.
Kahlon responded swiftly to the call for new eletions. . “I am returning to the political arena,” he said. “I used to be in a very strong political framework, but I decided to establish a new framework and this is for our children.” He gave no details on his political platform. He has historically taken hard-line positions toward the Palestinians, but more recently has expressed support for a territorial compromise that would establish a Palestinian state. However, his agenda has focused much more heavily on economic and cost-of-living issues.
Early opinion polls predict that Kahlon will win a solid 10 to 12 seats. This is enough to become pivotal. In the last vote, the parties supporting Netanyahu earned a combined 61 out of 120 seats in parliament. The majority proved too slim for Netanyahu to rule effectively and he was forced to reach out to two centrist parties, Yesh Atid and Hatnuah, to shore up his majority. Netanyahu’s feuds with these parties led to his decision to call a new election.
Kahlon, 54, appears to be different. In a country where the majoiry are Ashkenazi Jews, Moshe Kahlon is the son of Libyan immigrants. He grew up in a hardscrabble town in northern Israel and has managed to maintain a working-class appeal while championing economic issues popular with the middle class. His crowning achievement as communications minister was taking on Israel’s powerful wireless cartel and forcing them to lower mobile phone prices by introducing new competitors. As Kahlon’s popularity grew, he began to emerge as a threat to Netanyahu and Kahlon quit.
Kahlon appears poised to recruit a “dream team” of military, economic and social figures to help him reach a larger audience.
“He will rise and fall based on his list for parliament,” said Dueck. “In Israel, we have this ‘thing’ about multiple parties and we’re always looking for the new, fresh party that offers hope. Kahlon is the next big thing.”
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