Kulanu, the party headed by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, didn’t do well in the April 9 elections, winning only four seats — the minimum required to enter the Knesset.
“In pre-election polling, we saw that we were losing support because of our defense of the Supreme Court, something to which voters did not relate,” an associate of Kahlon told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “Kahlon’s principled defense of the judiciary ticked off the Likud, which took revenge against Kulanu. At the same time, some leftists voted for Orly Levy-Abekassis and her social issues agenda and others for the center-left Blue and White Party because Kulanu refused to rule out a government partnership with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," said the source.