When the chairman of the Kulanu Party, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, first joined the coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marked him — and justly so — as the weakest link.
But Kahlon got almost everything he asked for in exchange for joining the government, including, first and foremost, the prestigious Finance Ministry. At his request, the ministry’s powers were expanded by granting it control traditionally given to other ministries and government agencies so that he could enact his housing and banking reforms. Never before was so much authority concentrated in the hands of a single finance minister. He wielded considerable political power, and with his 11 seats, he could act independently.