Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon announced to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that he is retiring from political life.
The newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported that since the first round of elections in April 2019 Kahlon has lowered his profile and has taken part in fewer political events.
In recent days, Kahlon announced to the Likud faction that he does not want to appear in the Likud list for the 23rd Knesset. He is currently placed fifth on the list.
Kahlon spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu, explaining that he was retiring due to the sense of exhaustion he felt after five years of intense work in the Ministry of Finance. Even after Netanyahu tried to persuade Kahlon to stay, the finance minister said his decision was final and he intended to devote his time to the family and his two grandchildren.
Five years ago, Kahlon returned to political life and founded the 'Kulanu' party. Kulanu fell to four seats in the April 2019 elections and agreed to run together with the Likud party in the September 2019 elections so as to not risk being eliminated from the Knesset.