Who is Moshe Kahlon?

Moshe Kahlon could play an important role in the new Israeli government – but who is he? Kahlon heads up the Kulanu (All Of Us) party, which he established last November shortly before incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called snap elections (and after resigning from Likud).

The 54-year-old was first elected as a Member of Knesset in 2003 and, after the 2009 elections, was appointed communications minister by Netanyahu. In 2011, he was also given the Welfare and Social Services Ministry portfolio.

Kahlon decided not to run in the 2013 elections, but by then his reputation was already sealed as the man who broke Israel’s mobile phone monopoly, dramatically lowering costs for consumers. These credentials have boosted an election campaign in which he has focused on socio-economic concerns, especially housing and property prices.

“Our economy is like a circus, and there is nothing more humane and just than allowing people to live and work with dignity,” Kahlon said in December. “The exploitation of distressed workers and the social disparities must not continue.”

What about the “peace process” and relations with the Palestinians?

Kulanu’s platform promises to “keep a united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel along with the main blocks of settlement, and not allow the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel.” It also pledges to “assist the Palestinian Authority in their management and development of a prosperous Palestinian life in the West Bank.”

Former-Israeli ambassador in Washington Michael Oren is a high-profile presence on Kulanu’s slate, and two days ago suggested that his party would support a freeze on settlement construction outside of the so-called “blocs”.

Kahlon himself seemed to hint at possible concessions when he told a Q&A audience in Tel Aviv in December that “the real Likud knows how to make peace, to give up territory, and on the other hand is conservative and responsible”.

In 2011, however, Kahlon declared that if the Palestinians unilaterally declared independence, Israel “should annex all the territories that same day.” On the same occasion, Kahlon said Israel was building in the more isolated West Bank settlements “at an admirable pace”.