"It's like waking up to a new reality," said Beit Shemesh resident and New Jersey emigre Gilan Gertz this morning after the municipal victory of Dr. Aliza Bloch, the Zionist candidate for Mayor of the city Beit Shemesh, who last night won the mayoral elections in the city by 500 votes over incumbent mayor Moshe Abutbul and in doing so, became the first woman to head the city of Beit Shemesh.
1,300 votes were counted in Beit Shemesh overnight, including about 300 of disabled persons, about 1,000 of soldiers and a few dozen prisoners. At the end of the counting it became clear that Bloch had closed the gap of 251 votes that separated her from Abutbul and even gained an advantage.
"I've lived in Beit Shemesh for the past nine years since the day I made aliyah from New Jersey with my husband and five children.
"I can't describe the elation that Beit Shemesh residents are feeling this morning; they woke up to a new reality... We couldn't be happier," Gertz said.
