Mayor of Bet Shemesh Aliza Bloch has announced the formation of her governing coalition. In doing so she adds that she hopes to expand it in the future and that the remaining parties (Shas, Degel and Eitz) will join at some point, and negotiations with those parties are continuing, but for now she already has a coalition that will be inaugurated this week. The coalition includes Ir Meuchedet (Bloch's party), Habayit Hayehudi, Agudat Yisrael and Likud.

I hope the remaining find a way to negotiate enough jobs/control/influence to allow them to join the coalition. There is little that can be done from the opposition, and it would be good for their electorate if they would find a way to be able to serve them for the coming 5 years. They might have to come to terms with not being the senior partners, as they were in the past, and to having chosen the losing side, but hopefully something can be worked out between these parties and Bloch's negotiating team.

Besides for that, I don't get how this party thing works. Degel and Aguda run in elections as one unit - under the banner of Yahadut Hatorah Hameuchedet (UTJ). In some cities they have been slowly splitting apart and running separately, but in other cities, including Bet Shemesh, they have continued to run together. At least until now.

In Bet Shemesh after the elections we are seeing the two factions, Degel and Aguda, work separate from each other. Aguda has joined the coalition and Degel has not (as of today).

I don't get how they should be allowed to run as one party and then function afterwards as two parties. They should have to stick together after the elections and decide what to do based on some joint committee or vaad rabbonim and whatever is decided should be binding on all the members. If they do not want to submit to such a working relationship, they can split up. They should not be allowed to run together and then work separately. It seems to me to be some sort of low level election fraud. The election board should, in the future, not allow these parties to run together, seeing that they do not actually work together.