Kulanu head Moshe Kahlon denied on Thursday the rumor floated by former welfare minister Meir Cohen (Yesh Atid), who said earlier that there is ongoing contact between his party’s chairman, Yair Lapid, and the chairmen of Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu.
Yisrael Beytenu is also denying the claim. “We do not know of contacts about unification and we have already stated on several recent occasions that Yisrael Beytenu will contend in an independent list in the upcoming elections,” said the party.
Sources close to Meir Cohen said, meanwhile, that the contacts are not a dramatic development as of yet. This is “just talk, not ‘wow,’” they said.
“The connection Yesh Atid has with Liberman and Kahlon will be good for Israel,” said Cohen, speaking at a convention of the Association of Local Authorities in Israel, held in Jerusalem. Cohen also added that there had been discussions between Lapid and Hatnua Chairwoman Tzipi Livni, regarding running together on a joint list. He said that move was unsuccessful due to Livni’s demand for rotation in the prime minister’s position.
Meanwhile, Kahlon’s new party, Kulanu, was officially registered early Thursday afternoon.
Livni expressed confidence Thursday that her party’s unification with Labor will lead them both to the prime minister’s seat. “This was the only option that created impetus and change, and that could have changed the rules of the game in these elections,” she told Channel 2 News Online.
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