Israel’s Moshe Kahlon Emerges From Vote as Likely Kingmaker
March 18, 2015
(Bloomberg) – Moshe Kahlon, an economic populist running for the first time as a party leader, emerged from Israel’s elections on Tuesday as a key player in deciding who will form his nation’s next government.
The 54-year-old Kahlon became a national hero when, as communications minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, he allowed new competitors into the cellular phone market, cutting the cost of mobile phone calls by 90 percent. He later broke with Likud over economic policy and last year founded his Kulanu party, which won 10 seats in Tuesday’s election, according to unofficial results.
Netanyahu’s Likud captured at least 29 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament, giving the premier a clear lead over opposition leader Isaac Herzog. The result still leaves Likud far short of the majority needed to form a government, putting Kahlon in a position to provide the premier with the needed margin to build a coalition.
“We never had personal differences, or a personal rift, only ideological differences and I very much hope we can overcome them now in a government with a social bent, that will finally take care of the needs of young couples,” Kahlon told Army Radio.
The Kingmaker
While other parties will also be wooed, Kulanu has the chance to make an enormous difference, analysts say.
“Kahlon is the kingmaker, no doubt,” said Jonathan Spyer, a political scientist at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, a college north of Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu already said last week that he was ready to appoint Kahlon as his finance minister. Herzog has praised Kahlon’s proposals to reduce the cost of living and said he sees him as a natural coalition partner.
One of seven children born to Libyan immigrants, Kahlon has become a rallying figure for many Israelis concerned over the rising costs of housing and basic goods, issues that sparked widespread social protests in 2011.
“I will sit in any government that allows us to beat the banks, beat the cost of living,” he said in an interview with Army Radio last month.
Modest Background
His modest background and Sephardi, or Middle Eastern, origins set him apart from leaders such as Netanyahu and Herzog, scions of prominent political activists and fighters of European, or Ashkenazi, descent. His parents settled in Givat Olga, a small town on the the Mediterranean coast north of Tel Aviv, where his father worked in construction.
After army service, Kahlon worked in sales and became active in Likud. At 36, he started college, earning degrees in political science and law. He won a parliament seat in 2003, and six years later Netanyahu appointed him to head the communications ministry.
Kahlon says his success at cutting prices in communications can be repeated in housing, food, banking and pension management. He would like to see big banks spin off subsidiary lenders and credit card companies. After Netanyahu said he would appoint him as finance minister, bank shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange fell to their lowest in 18 months.
The Kulanu leader said little during the campaign on the contentious peace and security issues that usually dominate Israeli political discourse. He recruited Netanyahu’s former ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren into his party to deal with foreign policy. Kahlon has said he’s willing to cede some territory in a peace deal with the Palestinians, but sees little possibility of reaching a final agreement with their current leaders.
“Let’s remember he’s a Likud man,” Spyer says of Kahlon. “He left the Likud with some personal bitterness, but he has a definite nationalistic bent.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Calev Ben-David in Jerusalem at [email protected]
Palestinians Say Election Results Prove Israel No Peace Partner
March 18, 2015
(Bloomberg) – Palestinian leaders warned of renewed conflict after Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu clawed back from an opinion-poll deficit by campaigning against a two-state solution.
Netanyahu’s Likud party emerged well ahead in Tuesday’s parliamentary election of main rival Zionist Union, which is more supportive of peace talks. Netanyahu was trailing for much of the campaign, and on its final day he appealed to voters who share his skepticism toward the peace process by ruling out a Palestinian state at this time.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the elections results proved “that we don’t have a peace partner.” In remarks on official Voice of Palestine Radio, Erekat said the Palestinians would intensify diplomatic efforts to isolate Israel in the international arena, pursue war crimes charges against it, and proceed with plans to end cooperation between their security forces.
“If the U.S. is serious about peace, then it should pressure Israel,” Erekat said. “The whole world now should provide protection to the Palestinian people, including the U.S and the American Congress.”
In the Gaza Strip, Mushir al-Masri, a senior Hamas official, said the projected election results “clearly show the increase of radicalism in dealing with the Palestinians.” He said the outcome “should be enough to convince the Palestinian Authority and Fatah party to forget about the choice of keeping up the absurd negotiations, pay attention to the internal unity and reconciliation and rearrange the Palestinian house instead of betting on a mirage.”
U.S. Criticism
Fatah and the PA, which controls the West Bank, engaged with Israel in the U.S.-brokered peace talks that collapsed in April last year. Hamas, which rules Gaza and is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S. and European Union, is opposed to negotiations. The two rival Palestinian groups have sought to bury their differences in the past year.
The peace impasse has added to strains between Netanyahu and the U.S., which was unusually critical of Israel’s role in the breakdown of talks. Israeli negotiators said Palestinian intransigence was to blame.
Herzog and some other opposition groups accused Netanyahu during the campaign of endangering ties with Israel’s main ally.
To contact the reporters on this story: Fadwa Hodali in Ramallah at [email protected]; Saud Abu Ramadan in Jerusalem at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at [email protected] Amy Teibel, Karl Maier
Netanyahu Sweeps Aside Herzog’s Challenge to Win Israel Vote
March 18, 2015
(Bloomberg) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud unexpectedly swept aside a challenge from his main rival in Israel’s election, putting him in a leading position to form a governing coalition.
Netanyahu’s Likud captured 29 seats in the 120-member parliament, five more than Isaac Herzog’s Zionist Union, Israeli media reported, citing unofficial results with 99 percent of the vote counted. The prime minister called leaders of parties that share his skepticism on peace talks with the Palestinians to form a coalition within three weeks, Army Radio quoted a Likud spokesman as saying.
The Likud party had entered the race trailing Herzog’s ticket in most opinion polls, prompting Netanyahu to appeal to his supporters to save Israel’s “right-wing rule” from the threat of a leftist government backed by Arab voters. A day before the election, he said he won’t allow the establishment of a Palestinian state if he’s re-elected.
“Against all the odds, we’ve achieved a great victory for Likud,” Netanyahu told cheering supporters in Tel Aviv early on Wednesday. Israeli political analysts gave the edge to the prime minister, who focused in his campaign on what he said were security threats posed by Islamist militants and clashed with the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama over its Iran policy.
Final Count
Parliament is due to present the final count to President Reuven Rivlin by Mar. 25. He will then ask party leaders who they recommend as prime minister, and next week at the earliest assign someone to build the next coalition. Moshe Kahlon, a onetime Netanyahu ally critical of his economic record was poised to become the kingmaker with about 10 seats.
Israel Katz, a senior Likud official, said the coalition “will be built in a manner that will make it possible to stand up against the threats from outside, and it is important that people should stop taking this lightly.” The next government will also focus on lowering the cost of living, he said.
Ayman Odeh, chairman of the joint list of Arab parties who came third with 14 seats, told Army Radio the group wants to prevent “the establishment of a right-wing government.”
‘Very Worried’
“I was very worried the last few days but I knew that if Bibi went on the campaign trail, he would electrify the people,” said Reuven Ben Binyamin, 57, at the party rally in Tel Aviv, as young Likud members swayed to techno music in front of the podium.
Eli Ben Ezra, a Jerusalem cab driver and longtime Likud supporter, had planned to vote for Kulanu, but balked at the ballot box.
“My hand was trembling, and in the end I voted for Bibi,” he said. “I voted for him because he is the least of the evils on the political map.”
Opposition parties attacked Netanyahu over the economy as well as the faltering peace process. Economic output grew at the slowest pace since 2009 last year, while home prices have surged in the past decade.
Netanyahu may be favored by smaller parties such as Economy Minister Naftali Bennet’s Jewish Home that share his skepticism toward peace talks with Palestinians.
Palestinian leaders held out little hope for peace talks and warned of renewed conflict if Netanyahu remains in office.
“Israel is not ripe for any peace process,” Abbas Zaki, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s central committee, told Almayadeen television late on Tuesday after voting ended. “The situation is dangerous.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Sangwon Yoon in United Nations at [email protected]; Jonathan Ferziger in Tel Aviv at [email protected]; Alisa Odenheimer in Jerusalem at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at [email protected] Karl Maier
