Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid and Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu will be running on separate lists for the 2015 elections, they declared jointly Wednesday.
Lapid originally approached Kahlon over a possible joint list, after polls indicated that a combination of the two parties would gain a significant increase in votes for both.
Both parties are running on an economic platform based on solutions to Israel's cost of living and housing crises, although Lapid is somewhat more Socialist in his approach, while Kahlon has a decidedly Capitalist bent on the issues.
Separately, the two parties are projected to gain between 8-10 seats each in the 20th Knesset - a significant downgrade for Yesh Atid, who is set to lose roughly ten seats.
Rumors of a "centrist bloc" emerged amid a general rush for joint lists in this round of elections, as the Knesset threshold was raised significantly in March, potentially excluding several parties.
Tzipi Livni has thus far saved Hatnua by merging the fledgling party with Labor; rumors also abound of a joint list between the three Arab parties, only two of which (United Arab List and Hadash) are set to pass the Knesset threshold running alone.
Recently, polls indicated that a joint list between Likud and Jewish Home would gain a sweeping victory for the right-wing bloc at either 37 or 40 seats, but Jewish Home has reportedly said that such a list is not conceivably in the party's future.