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.

Ideologically, Kahlon was also the least committed partner in Netanyahu’s narrow, right-wing government of just 61 seats. While Naftali Bennett’s HaBayit HaYehudi Party is an integral part of the right, and the ultra-Orthodox parties were waiting impatiently for their chance to return to power, Kahlon was perceived as something of an outsider who had a certain basic hostility toward Netanyahu. As the sole leader of his party, he could also pick up and leave the coalition — and the prime minister — whenever he wanted, forcing new elections.

Also contributing to the feeling that Kahlon was just a temporary “guest” was the fact that he refused to hide his disappointment over the way he was trapped in such a narrow, right-wing government. Shortly after the March 2015 elections, Kahlon was the first to sign a coalition agreement with Netanyahu, and he only did that because he was convinced that it would be a much larger coalition. Having no further say in the matter, Kahlon made do with a faint promise to his supporters that he would continue to pressure Netanyahu to expand the government in any way possible.