The Kulanu party submitted its Knesset slate for the April 9th elections Thursday night, after refusing overtures from the Likud party for a joint run.
Following the announcement Thursday morning that the Israel Resilience Party and Yesh Atid would unite for the elections to the 21st Knesset, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu pressed Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon – a former member of the Likud – to run on a joint list with the Likud, thus guaranteeing that Kulanu clears the electoral threshold, and helping the Likud to maintain its lead in the polls.
While Kulanu netted 10 seats in its first election four years ago, recent polls show the faction struggling to receive the 3.25% of the vote required to enter the Knesset.
The possibility that Kulanu – and potentially other right-leaning factions, including Shas and Yisrael Beytenu – could fall below the threshold has prompted Netanyahu to pressure coalition partners to form united lists.
In the case of the Jewish Home-National Union, Netanyahu was successful, securing Wednesday the agreement of the Jewish Home to a technical bloc with the Otzma Yehudit party.
On Thursday, however, Kulanu rebuffed Netanyahu’s overtures, vowing to run alone.
The party submitted its candidate list to the Knesset election’s committee Thursday night, closing the door to any possible alliance with the Likud or other factions.
The party’s list is as follows:
1. Moshe Kahlon (Party Chairman)
2. Eli Cohen
3. Yifat Shasha-Biton
4. Roy Folkman
5. Tali Ploskov
6. Meirav Ben Ari
7. Akram Hasson
8. Asher Fentahun Seyoum
9. Nadav Sheinberger
10. Ram Shmuel
11. Roei Cohen
12. Yehuda Mimran
The Kulanu list does not include former Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren, who resigned from the party last December.