As part of Benny Gantz's attempts to bring in votes from the right, Gantz's associates approached Moshe Kahlon and offered him complete independence as Finance Minister in the socio-economic sphere, Kan 11 News reported on Wednesday.
Kahlon’s Kulanu party said in response, “Gantz's panic is understandable. There were never any negotiations nor will there be negotiations. Gantz is not showing any evidence of his willingness to receive the public's trust, he has no moral and social outlook, we do not know whether to believe his right hand or his left hand.”
"We have clarified, and we will do it again, Kulanu is the only national and social party in Israel. We will run independently and directly in order to strengthen the social resilience of the State of Israel, first and foremost for the individual,” said Kulanu.
Gantz had previously looked into the possibility of joining forces with Orly Levy-Abekasis’ Gesher party, and also conducted preliminary talks with the Yesh Atid party.
Last week, Yesh Atid and Gantz's Hosen LeYisrael traded barbs amid talks of a merger between the two sides.
The back-and-forth began when Yesh Atid MK Meir Cohen accused former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, whose Telem party is running on a unified list with Gantz’s party, of conducting an “embarrassing shopping trip to all the parties, including the Yesh Atid party, just two months ago."
Hosen LeYisrael said in response that "It is unfortunate that there are those in Yesh Atid who are under pressure and spreading falsehoods. Ya’alon did not ask to join Yesh Atid, the discussion dealt only with looking into the possibility of a tie-up between the parties."