The Net Family Plan announced by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon immediately after the Passover holiday on April 18 can easily be called “Net Revenge.” Without minimizing the significance of the tax credits and grants that would be distributed through the program to young middle-class families in Israel, it would be a mistake to see it only as a socioeconomic move. But “Net Family” is not only the finance minister’s revenge on the prime minister — who defeated him in the Public Broadcasting Corporation affair by means of a series of humiliations and arm twisting — it is also the opening shot of Kahlon’s election campaign.

Kahlon’s reform has four components: the addition of income tax credit points; lowering taxes on imported baby clothes, shoes and cellphones; lowering the price of afternoon daycare by means of government subsidies; and raising the income threshold below which families would be entitled to a work grant from the government. According to the calculations of the Ministry of Finance, a family of two working parents with two or three kids could improve its annual income by about 9,000-10,000 shekels ($2,500-$2,700). This plan is unique because it attempts to help the struggling secular middle class. The ultra-Orthodox would benefit less, because aside from lowering the import tax, the plan mainly helps families with two working parents, which is not the case for most ultra-Orthodox families (where often the man dedicates his time to Torah study).

In a normally functioning government, such a plan would be announced with the blessing of the prime minister and the rest of the ministers, but in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s feuding coalition, the opposite happened: The finance minister hid a significant economic move from the prime minister and announced it at a press conference that was prepared with the secrecy of a military operation, in fear that Netanyahu would once again try to steal credit for the plan. The goal was to take revenge on him in front of the public and the media for the Public Broadcasting Corporation affair.

Kahlon-Netanyahu relations are currently the weak spot of the government, but at least in the short term they don't endanger its existence. This conflict could hurt Netanyahu after the next election — assuming that the criminal investigations don’t prevent him from running. Kahlon, the chairman of Kulanu, could recommend Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid for prime minister (in an electoral system where, after the election, each party is requested to recommend the party fittest to lead the coalition). While the six seats that the latest polls predict for Kulanu are a significant decrease from the 10 seats it now holds, it is possible that they would tip the scales. Netanyahu knows it, and he has invested efforts in trying to placate Kahlon.