Moshe Kahlon
Moshe KahlonFlash90

With Moshe Kahlon setting his Kulanu party up as the focus for voters who want a “better deal” from Israel, in the form of lower prices for home and basic goods, other parties have been marshaling their MKs to counter claims by Kahlon that only he is capable of bringing down prices. And speaking on behalf of the Likud Wednesday night, MK Miri Regev slammed Kahlon's record of defending Israelis from high prices.

Speaking at a panel organized by business daily Globes, Regev said that “Kahlon's claim to fame is lowering the prices of cell phone service in Israel when he was Communications Minister by initiating competition in the field, but the credit for that really belongs to Prime Minister Netanyahu,” who pushed through the legislation that forced that competition to take place. “Israel's economy today is stable, we are not 'on the brink' as they are in Russia and most of Europe.”

Also knocking Kahlon was Shai Piron, former Education Minister and still number two on the Yesh Atid list for the upcoming Knesset elections. Referring to Kahlon's most recent stint as Welfare Minister, Piron asked the panel to “Please tell me one thing Moshe Kahlon did as Welfare Minister. I have a disabled son, and all I know is that he and I suffered more under Kahlon than previously.”

In a series of interviews Wednesday, Kahlon said that only he had the answers to reduce the price of food, apartments, and other necessities that many Israelis complain are currently too expensive - and that the high prices were the fault of Binyamin Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett, and Yair Lapid. 

“We look at results, not talk,” Kahlon said. “They can talk all they want, but with all the talk, has the price of apartments gone down? Have the wage gaps in Israel narrowed? Did the cost of living go down? No; everything is more expensive, and the price keeps rising. Anyone who was a member of this government – including Naftali Bennett – is to blame."

Also giving advice at the Globes panel on how to keep costs down – even though he is not running for anything – was Rami Levi, head of the supermarket chain that many consider to have the lowest prices in Israel. Famous for his super-sale prices on a wide range of products – including chicken, which he has sold for as little as a shekel a kilo (eleven cents a pound)  Levi said that his philosophy was to “sell a lot, make a little bit, and make sure that everyone benefits. I blazed a path, making sure that even those who don't have a lot of money can eat well. My competitors are now beginning to adopt this philosophy, and I am happy about this.”

Politicians who really want to reduce the cost of living should pay him heed, said Levi. “Even when I sold chicken for a shekel a kilo I made money. I also reduced the cost of other products and made it back on volume.”

According to Levi, that philosophy could also work in reducing the cost of housing – reducing the profit margin on materials, like cement and other building materials, and increasing sales to make up for it, a method that would work well in housing, considering the high demand in Israel.