Beit Shemesh, a city that has become an emblem for ultra-Orthodox extremism and violent clashes between haredi and secular or Modern Orthodox residents, has elected a woman to serve as its new mayor in a nail-biter of a race.
Dr. Aliza Bloch will replace incumbent Mayor Moshe Abutbul, a Shas man who ran on the United Torah Judaism ticket after his own independent list was disqualified.
The results of the election were unclear when polls closed at 10 p.m. Tuesday night. At first, Abutbul appeared to have taken the lead by a razor-thin margin of 251 votes. But the following day, the absentee ballots from soldiers, prisoners and disabled residents were sufficient to carry Bloch over the finish line and into the mayor's seat by a mere 533 votes – less than 1.3% of the total number of votes cast.
"A new day is dawning in Beit Shemesh," Bloch said in her victory speech Wednesday outside city hall.
"The Jewish people are looking at the city of Beit Shemesh this morning with new hope," Bloch said in her victory speech. "Beit Shemesh has decided to tear down the walls and barriers. Until now, radical fringes controlled the discourse and kept us from seeing the human beings. The radical fringes set the tone, making Beit Shemesh appear to be a war zone."
"Today, Beit Shemesh said, 'We are going to treat each other like humans. We have one united society – Beit Shemesh is a single city.' What won this campaign is the fact that we set aside what divides us. I am calling on representatives of all parties to join me in leading this city," Bloch said.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett said in a Twitter message: "I have congratulated Aliza Bloch on her historic victory in Beit Shemesh. Hers was a campaign that was vital to the city's future. The residents of Beit Shemesh have chosen hope, unity, and a future. We [Bloch and Bennett] agreed to meet next week to build a plan to boost education in Beit Shemesh. Something new is happening."
Before she was declared the winner, Bloch told Israel Hayom that "the residents are very tense. There's a lot of excitement, there's a lot of hope. The tension is tough to take, but there's good reason to be optimistic. The figures promise that Beit Shemesh will be the winner. The chances are good, but it ain't over til it's over."
Bloch characterized her campaign as having successfully done away with the notion of "us" and "them."
"I wanted to stop this discourse of haredim vs. secular, to break the mold that says that haredim vote for haredim, even if it's to their detriment," Bloch explained. "In the end, haredim need sidewalks, employment, and education, too – and they haven't had them."
"The residents [of Beit Shemesh] are saying to the Israeli leadership – stop the divisiveness, we want a good life. Stop putting people into boxes. Everyone voted for me … even the [extreme] Toldos Aharon haredi sect. Everyone voted as ordinary people who want change. All the haredim and all the secular residents want a better life, want things to be good here. … I'll be the 'haredi representative' that takes care of the haredim," Bloch promised.
Abutbul, for his part, opted to hide away at home and declined to speak to the media. Campaign officials told Israel Hayom that his camp had made major mistakes in its campaign.
"Losing a city like this is a tough blow for United Torah Judaism. Every mistake that could have been made here was made. They tried to make Beit Shemesh part of a national deal for the haredi camp, without understanding that the situation here is more complicated. Everyone was complacent," one official said.
"We also have to concede that Bloch ran an excellent campaign. For years, quietly, she actually went door to door. There's nothing to be done. It's a painful loss. The city is seeing a building boom in the haredi areas. It's not clear what will happen going forward," the officials said.
