Aliza Bloch

Aliza Bloch
Aliza Bloch in 2019
Mayor of Beit Shemesh
In office 20 November 2018 – 31 March 2024
Preceded by	Moshe Abutbul
Succeeded by	Shmuel Greenberg
Personal details
Born	Geulah Aliza Bloch (1967-10-13) 13 October 1967 (age 57) Kiryat Gat, Israel
Political party	Religious Zionist Party (formerly)
Spouse	Aharon Bloch
Children	4
Alma mater	Bar Ilan

Geulah Aliza Bloch (born 13 October 1967) is an Israeli teacher and politician. In 2018, she became the first female mayor of Beit Shemesh, and in 2019 she was named by The Jerusalem Post as one of the world's 50 most influential Jews.^[1]

Biography

The daughter of Jewish immigrants from Morocco,^[2] Bloch was born in Israel and grew up in Kiryat Gat. She has an undergraduate degree in mathematics as well as a doctorate in education from Bar Ilan University.^[3] She was the vice-principal of the Givat Gonen school in the Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem. She moved to Beit Shemesh with her husband Aharon in 1992 and served as principal of the Branco-Weiss High School there.^[4][5]

In 2011, she was awarded the Rothschild Prize in Education.^[6]

Political career

Bloch was selected as a candidate for mayor of Beit Shemesh in 2013 for the Bayit Yehudi party.^[7] However two and a half months before the election, the party, then under Naftali Bennet, switched their support and supported independent candidate Eli Cohen instead.^[8] Five years later, in 2018, she defeated 10-year incumbent mayor Moshe Abutbul by 533 votes.^[4] Bloch was widely seen as a dark horse candidate and campaigned on a platform of providing better services and infrastructure in Beit Shemesh. Bloch, a Religious Zionist candidate,^[9] pledged to unite and accommodate the city's Haredi, secular, and American oleh populations.^[10] Bloch was endorsed by a wide spectrum of Israeli political parties, including Jewish Home, Likud, Labor, Kulanu, and Yesh Atid.^[11]

During the summer of 2019, Bloch sustained harsh criticism from the Haredi sector over a spate of demolitions of illegally-built synagogues, with workers removing the spray-painted (in Hebrew) slogan "Aliza Bloch = Hitler" from a wall. Other graffiti labeled her a terrorist.^[9] On 1 August, a Beit Shemesh synagogue built on Israel Lands Authority property was demolished by the government, with residents blaming the municipality for not interceding enough on their behalf.^[12] A few days later, Haredim protested the mistreatment of many families who claimed they were ignored in their basic education and religious needs.^[13] In 2021, Bloch fired seven council members (from Haredi parties Degel HaTorah, Agudat Yisrael and from the Likud) for allegedly preventing the development of the city.^[14] Later, they solved their disagreement.^[15]

She worked for building the first sportech at the city.^[16][17] In addition, she worked for building areas such as S-Park, which will be a project in the planned employment, office and commercial park.^[18] The hackathon initiative (a competitive event aimed at producing innovative solutions to a given problem under time pressure) was promoted. The hackathon aims to improve the involvement of the city's residents in community life and to unite the various sectors.^[19]

Aliza lost the second round of the 2024 municipal election to Ultraorthodox candidate Shmuel Greenberg.^[20]

Personal life

Bloch is married to Aharon Bloch and has four children.

See also

• Women in Israel

References

1. "50 Influencers 2019". www.jpost.com. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
2. "Beit Shemesh's first female mayor wants her city to be a ray of light for Israel". Times of Israel. November 18, 2018.
3. Tsur, Shlomit (9 Dec 2018). "Beit Shemesh's new mayor prepares for change". Globes. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
4. "Women cheered for election victories, but men are still over 95% of mayors". Times of Israel. November 1, 2018.
5. "First female mayor of Beit Shemesh: There is strength in acceptance, love". Jerusalem Post. November 17, 2018.
6. "Rothschild Prize in Education". Yad Hanadiv. Archived from the original on 2018-12-10. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
7. Ynet (26 June 2013). "Bennett expresses support for mayoral candidate". Ynet. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
8. Haaretz (8 August 2013). "Battle for Beit Shemesh | To Beat Haredi Mayor, Religious Israeli Party Enlists Secular Candidate". Haaretz. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
9. "Police, Haredim Scuffle in Beit Shemesh over Graffiti Against Female Mayor". The Times of Israel. 6 July 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
10. Halbfinger, David M. (2 November 2018). "Among Israel's Ultra-Orthodox, It's (Sort of) the Year of the Woman". New York Times. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
11. Hoffman, Gil (4 October 2018). "Can Haredim Elect an Orthodox Woman Mayor in Beit Shemesh?". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
12. "Tractor Rams Aron Kodesh and Heichal HaBesht Shul in Beit Shemesh and Destroys Them Completely". Hamodia. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
13. "Video: Beit Shemesh: 94 Children Without Daycare With About 3 Weeks To School Opening". Yeshiva World News. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
14. "Mayor Bloch revokes power of Seven City Council Members | ShemeshPhone".
15. noam (2022-01-20). "נחתם הסכם קואליציוני מחדש עם סיעות האופוזיציה". 418 - חדשות בית שמש החרדית (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-09-14.
16. "התוכנית להקמת הספורטק העירוני בבית שמש יוצאת לדרך | כל העיר". כל העיר ירושלים (in Hebrew). 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
17. "לאחר הסרת התנגדויות: אושר מתחם ספורטק ומלונאות שבמרכזו בריכה בעיר הוותיקה | שמשנט חדשות". shemeshnet.co.il. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
18. "קבוצת שיבולת תקים פארק תעסוקה ומסחר חדש בבית שמש - וואלה! נדל״ן". וואלה! (in Hebrew). 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
19. "בית שמש זורחת: תשע היוזמות העירוניות שיקרבו בין דתיים וחילונים | מעריב". www.maariv.co.il (in Hebrew). 17 December 2021. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
20. "N12 - בית שמש: היום שאחרי | ראשת העירייה היוצאת על ההפסד לחרדים". N12. 2024-03-24. Retrieved 2024-07-22.