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Monday, August 10, 2026
Ex-Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch joins new Erdan-Edelstein political party
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Former Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch joins Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein’s still-unnamed new right wing party ahead of the 2026 Knesset election, a spokesman for Erdan confirms to The Times of Israel.
Bloch is the former principal of the Branco-Weiss high school in Beit Shemesh. She was elected mayor of Beit Shemesh in 2018, ending a decade of ultra-Orthodox control over the rapidly growing bedroom community.
Her administration was seen by many national-religious and secular residents as one final chance to fix their city following years of religious violence at the hands of ultra-Orthodox zealots. She lost reelection in 2024 to Degel HaTorah’s Shmuel Greenberg.
The party did not release a statement and Bloch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The still-unnamed party marks the latest attempt by former members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s faction to break off and compete against him. Erdan, 55, is a former UN ambassador, and Edelstein quit Likud last month after decades in the party because he opposed its bid to legislate military draft exemptions for yeshiva students.
The Times of Israel Community.