Kulanu's negotiating team added additional demands for portfolios in a meeting with Likud representatives at the Knesset on Wednesday. Last week, Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon said his party was demanding the Finance Ministry, the Israel Lands Authority and the Building and Planning Committee.
On Wednesday, the negotiating team also requested the Construction portfolio, the Environmental Protection Ministry, and the Knesset Finance Committee.
"No reforms will be able to happen if we are not given the authority to accomplish them," a source on the Kulanu negotiating team said. The source said Kahlon had good relations with United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni, who has also demanded the Finance Committee chairmanship, but he believes it must be led by one of his own Mks to ensure that the people are properly served.
Likud officials accused Kahlon of going overboard in his demands. They said he was receiving poor advice from former advisers of the late prime minister Ariel Sharon.
Kulanu officials said their demands were reasonable and that Sharon advisers had helped lead the country successfully.
"We have not asked for the Defense portfolio, as I am sure other parties would if they were in our place," a Kulanu official said.
The Likud also negotiated Wednesday with Yisrael Beytenu. Channel 10 reported that the party asked for "an expanded Foreign Affairs portfolio."
Yisrael Beytenu officials said that the request meant that regardless of who becomes foreign minister, all of the ministry's former responsibilities be restored including the fight against boycotts, divestment and sanctions, and the relationship with diaspora Jews.