Naftali Bennet was asked by Kol Brama what he was getting in return for all the compromises he was doing for Yair Lapid and all he could say was 'just wait and see'.
I hear what you are saying, but there are in fact better relations between Shas/Mafdal on a local level since the people are probably familiar with each other on a community level.

I hear what you are saying, but it is unlikely to be accurate, as the main complaint I keep hearing over and over again from Bayit Yehudi people who tell me they are not (for now) supporting Aliza Bloch is that they are upset that the national Bayit Yehudi people made this decision without consulting the local Bayit Yehudi people.

I think that it's a mistake to run Aliza Bloch. The people wavering between Abutbol and a non-Charedi candidate - Sefardim and quasi-charedim - are not going to vote for a woman.

As an oleh chadash who has had some political campaign experiences and working for political officeholders for many years I have a bit of a different take. Rafi might be right but not likely considering the very different goals and personal animosity between Shas leaders and Bennett. More likely, BY and YA are trying to build their political parties from the grassroots. Their wins at the national level were as much a fluke of good timing and stupid alliances made by other politicos that angered voters and created a vacuum BY and YA filled. Now they do not want to leave the next election to chance and building from bottom up is the priority: winning Mayoral and City Council seats is how they do it in America from where these guys take their advice. Bloch is just the first of what will be many new local candidates...even if they don't expect to win right now. The goal is national elections with partisans working hard in return for gifts now. Their backing Bloch is also a slap/challenge at Netanyahu and Likud. Right out of the Chicago playbook.