Aliza Bloch's Political Journey Sees Two Parties Withdraw from Elections
Translated & summarized from Now 14 by baba
Aliza Bloch, former mayor of Beit Shemesh, joined two parties, the Unity Party and Blue and White, both of which subsequently withdrew from the Knesset elections. She first joined the Unity Party in August, which announced its withdrawal in September. Then, she joined Blue and White in September, only for its chairman Benny Gantz to announce his withdrawal from the race on Monday. Bloch, 59, had resigned from her role at the Israeli Center for Educational Excellence in June to run for Knesset.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Aliza Bloch joined two parties, Unity and Blue and White, both of which withdrew from the Knesset elections.
- Bloch first joined the Unity Party in August, which announced its withdrawal in September.
- She then joined Benny Gantz's Blue and White party in September.
- Benny Gantz announced his withdrawal from the Knesset race on Monday.
- Bloch, 59, is a former mayor of Beit Shemesh and educator.
- She resigned from the Israeli Center for Educational Excellence in June to run for Knesset.
Aliza Bloch, the 59-year-old former mayor of Beit Shemesh, has experienced a unique political situation during the current election cycle, joining two different parties that subsequently decided not to run in the Knesset elections. Bloch first joined the Unity Party, founded by Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein, in August. However, the party announced in September that it would not compete in the elections, ending Bloch's first political endeavor for this cycle before it truly began.
Three days later, on September 7, Bloch joined Benny Gantz's Blue and White party. On Monday, Gantz announced his withdrawal from the Knesset race, meaning his party will also not be participating in the upcoming elections. This marks the second party Bloch joined that has ultimately decided against running.
Bloch, an educator by profession, served as the mayor of Beit Shemesh from 2018 to 2024, defeating incumbent Moshe Abutbul in 2018 but losing to Shmuel Greenberg in 2024. Prior to her political career, she managed the Branko Weiss high school in Beit Shemesh for 14 years and later oversaw the network of high schools. In September 2024, she was elected president of the Israeli Center for Educational Excellence and moved to Kiryat Shmona to establish a branch there. In June, she announced her resignation from this role to pursue a Knesset seat.
Her decision to run for the Knesset followed her resignation from the presidency of the Israeli Center for Educational Excellence in June. This series of events has placed Bloch in an unusual position, having aligned with two parties that have both withdrawn from the election race within a span of just over two months.