A second round of municipal elections took place on Sunday in cities and yishuvim where none of the candidates won enough votes (40%) to declare victory in the first round of elections last month.

As expected, Shmulik Greenberg, the Degel HaTorah candidate in Beit Shemesh, defeated the incumbent mayor Aliza Bloch by a large margin, becoming the mayor of the city for the next five years.

After Shas candidate Moshe Abutbul lost to Bloch in the first round, all the Chareidi parties, including Shas, unified around Greenberg.

Greenberg, who served in the IDF and has a master’s degree in public policy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a bachelor’s degree in law from Ono Academic College, served as the deputy mayor of Beit Shemesh from 2008-2020, resigning from the position when he was appointed the head of the Chareidi educational department in the Jerusalem Municipality in 2020.

In his victory speech after midnight on Sunday, Greenberg first requested to recite Tehillim for the return of the hostages and for the refuah of those wounded in the war, as seen in the video below:

Greenberg then said: “We’re here in the zechus of Maran Rosh HaYeshivah HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau, Maran Rosh HaYeshivah HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, the Rabbanim of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel HaTorah and the chevrei Chachmei HaTorah of Shas.”

“I owe a great deal of gratitude to my friend and partner, the chairman of Shlomei Emunim, Minister Meir Porush, for his support along the way. We achieved victory thanks to our partnership with Shlomei Emunim and Machzeikei HaDas.”

Greenberg promised to work in unity with all sectors in the city and thanked the outgoing mayor for her service. Bloch called Greenberg to congratulate him on his victory and offer her assistance in the handover process and the two agreed to meet soon.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)