Fresh off her shocking win in the Bet Shemesh mayoral race, Aliza Bloch finally has the new coalition that will allow her to start managing her city.
On Saturday night, Bloch announced that she signed coalition agreements with Likud, the haredi Agudat Yisrael, and the Jewish Home.
The haredi Degel Hatorah and Shas parties, meanwhile, have refused to join the coalition despite Bloch's urging. The mayor-elect says she wants a broad coalition in order to represent all of the city's residents.
"This is a holiday for Beit Shemesh," Bloch said. "I was pleased to see during the talks the importance of the city to all the party representatives and with our signature we emphasized that we will all be part of making Beit Shemesh better. From the outset, my goal was to represent the entire city."
"We are happy about the existing coalition and hope that in the next few days Degel Hatorah and Shas will join as well," Bloch added. "As part of our commitments, every representative in this coalition represents all the residents of the city and we are committed to equal opportunities for all, along with professionalism and responsibility."
In what observers call the biggest upset of Israel's municipal elections, Bloch won the mayoral elections in the city by 500 votes over incumbent mayor Moshe Abutbul.
By doing so, she became the first woman to head the city of Bet Shemesh. A married mother of four, Bloch is an educator by trade and has won many awards in this field.