Kulanu party chairman Moshe Kahlon addressed hundreds of students at Tel Aviv University Sunday, where he pushed his economic platform for the 2015 elections. 

“[Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu and [Yair] Lapid are familiar with all the problems of the merkaz [central Israel – ed.],” Kahlon said, referring to the housing and cost of living crises. “The problem is that none of them wanted to address the problems and did not want to fight with anyone.”

“Yair Lapid sat in the Ministry of Finance and did nothing, [Yuval] Steinitz knew all the problems and chose to ignore them,” Kahlon added. “I will be the first social-minded Minister of Finance of the State of Israel. For the first time, Israel will have a finance minister who really understands social hardships.” 

“The Kulanu party must take care of the cost of living crisis, reduce social inequalities and lower housing costs,” he continued. “We pay 30% more from other countries because monopolies, tycoons and interest groups, especially because no one cares.”

“Huge social gaps are only widening,” he added, warning that the future of Israel is at stake. 

“A child whose parents are weak – his destiny is sealed,” he said. 

“People ask me: why have you not joined other parties?” he noted. “Every party leader has come and said that he is ready to fight the banks, monopolies and cost of living.”

“But the cost of living is not solved in Congress and Munich – the cost of living is solved here: in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Netanya and Haifa,” he fired, referring to leaders’ recent shifting of focus to the Iran nuclear program issue. 

Most Israelis trust Kahlon with Israel’s financial portfolio, according to a recent survey – even if his Kulanu party has fallen to a mere 7 seats in pre-election polls.