A few hours before extremists smashed her car, surrounded the place where she was staying, until she was rescued from one of the city's neighborhoods, Beit Shemesh Mayor Dr. Aliza Bloch was interviewed by "My City" – the municipal podcast ahead of the local elections of Israel Hayom.
When we asked Bloch about vandalizing her campaign sign, she said: "You've fallen into the pit of every average journalist. A city that has one of the largest growth rates in Israel, a development rate of almost 9% a year, is now building five new industrial and high-tech zones, a crazy cultural revolution with a cultural hall being built, a pub, an artists' house, and with that opening a broadcast.
"We got confused between what's important and what's not important and who sets an agenda. So it's true that there are other guys who do things like this, they did it in Beit Shemesh and did it in Tel Aviv, in my eyes it's a certificate of poverty for us that we're even talking about it."
You say it's a handful of "problematic."
"I don't want to diminish the phenomenon, I just think we choose who sets the agenda. Beit Shemesh is a city that doesn't need to prove. Unlike cities that may have a liberal image, a woman elected mayor in democratic elections. You can't be elected in Beit Shemesh without the support of ultra-Orthodox residents, and they said they wanted a woman as their mayor."
Have you been bullied in the last five years?
Car of Beit Shemesh Mayor Aliza Bloch
"I make a lot of decisions, some of which residents like and some residents don't. But I'm at a very exciting crossroads of decision-making. There are decisions that the residents praise and celebrate and some don't like. They don't always like a playground near their home, they don't always like that you opened a road near the resident, they don't always like that you approved a zoning plan that might be crowded with housing."
After about an hour they were besieged in the building: In the last few minutes, Mayor Aliza Bloch, Deputy Mayor Itzik Almalich and Municipality Director General Yohanan Mali were rescued from the school building with the help of large police forces. The PM's vehicle was damaged.
— Beit Shemesh News (@shemeshnews) August 29, 2023
It's everywhere.
"There's a small group of residents who would be happy if I wasn't there. But I think the fact that most of the public is elsewhere is a very big statement. There were some demonstrations near my house. There were some demonstrations near the municipality – it's in very small decibels compared to the large mass."
You have said in the past that you have made a decision to put aside the issues that increase the rift and deal only with issues that are not in dispute. Did it work?
"There are a lot of conflictual issues that need to be dealt with all the time. But I'm really busy managing as many situations as we can reach agreements in. I think that the fact that we managed to finish almost five years, with a much quieter city than I got, with a city where the values of apartments and land have risen because people understand that something good has happened here, is mainly that I chose not to take every argument to the extreme. There are endless issues – not a day goes by that I don't have dozens of decision-making issues."
Do you want to eliminate the issues that cause us to disagree?
"The solution, in my view, is to make a supreme effort to give each group its own needs. Because what is considered an achievement for one person is considered for another something bad. And my job is to make a supreme effort in this regard."
Mahmoud Abbas confirmed
Walid Abu Tayya, the first Arab candidate from East Jerusalem for mayor of Jerusalem, attorney Walid Abu Tayeh, reveals in the chapter that Abbas did not ask him to withdraw his candidacy: "I sent him a letter in April and he sent me a reply. He told me that the issue of Jerusalem was very complicated, that I had to consult with the Arabs of '48 – the Israeli Arabs. A third said, 'Don't talk politics, but talk about duties and rights,' a fourth said, 'I'm not giving you either a green light or a red light,' and another said, 'Brainstorm and decide.'"
Walid Abu Tayeh, photo: uncredited
Strategic advisor Shai Cohen said regarding the elections in Tel Aviv: "We are seeing an almost unprecedented phenomenon of a mayor who has been very popular over the years, and is finishing his fifth term – and yet is really fighting for his place in the campaign. The recent move of his alliance with Assaf Zamir is the clear example of this."
What can you say about the situation in the city today?
"The leading candidate for mayor of Tel Aviv is none other than "I have not yet decided." A huge majority of respondents in the polls have not yet decided who they will support."
On Ron Huldai's latest move, he said: "I analyze things so that a step taken out of distress in support data almost always builds on it a little more than it can actually yield. To a certain extent, this could also hurt him, and this is added to the fact that quite a few Tel Avivians are not so enthusiastic about this deal."
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us