Aliza Bloch
Aliza Bloch (born 1967) is an Israeli educator 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. Biography. The daughter of Jewish immigrants from Morocco, 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. 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. In 2011, she was awarded the Rothschild Prize in Education. Political career. Bloch ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Beit Shemesh in 2013. Five years later, in 2018, she defeated 10-year incumbent mayor Moshe Abutbul by 533 votes. 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, pledged to unite and accommodate the city's Haredi, secular, and American oleh populations. Bloch was  endorsed by a wide spectrum of Israeli political parties, including Jewish Home, Likud, Labor, Kulanu, and Yesh Atid. 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. 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. A few days later, Haredim protested the mistreatment  of many families who were ignored in their basic education and religious needs. In 2021, Bloch fired seven council members [from Degel, Agudah and Likud] for allegedly preventing the development of the city. Personal life. Bloch is married to Aharon Bloch and has four children.