Aliza Bloch Says She Will Run to Become Israel’s Next Education Minister

Dr. Aliza Bloch, the former mayor of Beit Shemesh, says she is entering national politics ahead of the coming elections and intends to seek the post of education minister. She argues that education should become a central national priority and says Israel can no longer rely on “patches and improvised solutions” to run the school system.

Bloch says education underpins security, the economy, burden sharing and national resilience. In her view, Israel has focused for years on security threats while neglecting what she calls the “fourth front.” She warns that the education system is deteriorating, gaps are widening, and younger generations are paying the price. “Education is the infrastructure of security, the economy, burden sharing and national resilience,” she says.

She says recent crises have exposed the system’s weakness and insists the state must build a system that can function in emergencies, maintain educational continuity, identify talented educators and support them, and detect children who are falling behind. She also says the problem is deeper than any single crisis, accusing successive governments of failing to deliver a system that gives every child knowledge, tools, values and the ability to cope with a rapidly changing world.

A major theme of her platform is equality of burden. Bloch says it does not begin at age 18 or through legislation alone, but through education, belonging and responsibility from a young age. Addressing ultra-Orthodox society, she says, “I am not against the ultra-Orthodox. I am worried about politics that leaves an entire public outside Israeli responsibility.” She points to Beit Shemesh as proof that identity-based frameworks can still connect children to the state, study, work and service.

Bloch says her experience in Beit Shemesh, a mixed city of secular, religious, ultra-Orthodox and traditional residents, taught her how to build shared life across communities. Since the war began, she has also been active in northern Israel, helping restore education in Kiryat Shmona and advancing centers of excellence and plans for a gifted-students high school in science and the arts with the Education Ministry and the mayor of Netivot. She says children in Kiryat Shmona and Netivot deserve the same opportunities as children in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and plans meetings with political and public figures as she expands her campaign.