Fourth time in five days: far-right agitators harass Arab Israeli journalist outside her home

Far-right agitators near the home of journalist Lucy Aharish, 25 February 2026

Bar Peleg reports in Haaretz on 25 February 202:

Around 20 right-wing agitators arrived on Wednesday to protest and harass Channel 13’s Lucy Aharish outside her home, marking the fourth such incident in five days.

Aharish, an Arab Israeli journalist, has been targeted by a racially charged media campaign and subject to threats after she criticized two right-wing coalition lawmakers for demeaning families of Arab homicide victims and urged Israel’s Arab citizens to vote in droves in the upcoming election.

During her remarks, she used the Arabic word “inshallah,” or “God willing” – a phrase that drew particular ire from right-wing activists. Many of the protesters referred to the phrase, shouting: “We came to deliver you a message. This is the fourth time and it won’t stop here, inshallah”; “Inshallah you have a heart attack”; and “Let the IDF win, fuck the Arabs.”

Several agitators also hurled rocks at a Haaretz photographer on the scene.

Police were present at the scene, along with roughly ten anti-government demonstrators showing support for Aharish. One activist was arrested outside the family’s door. The same individual had also come to her home on Saturday, and the police on site identified him.

The suspect is the fourth person the police have detained outside Aharish’s residence. The three previous detainees, far-right activists Mordechai David, Rami Ben Yehuda, and Ziv Baranes, were later released under restrictive conditions.

Several agitators returned to harass Aharish outside her home on Tuesday. Footage from the scene shows police arriving minutes later and blocking access to the building. The activists were later moved to a nearby plaza, where Baranes was detained by police.  Earlier, Baranes was recorded saying, “Every time you detain or issue a restraining order against one of us, we’ll come back three or four times as strong.”

On Monday, police detained far-right activists Mordechai David and Ben Yehuda after they entered Aharish’s residential building using a loudspeaker, suspecting them of trespassing and disturbing the peace.

Video shared on social media shows David holding a megaphone inside Aharish’s building. After several hours, both were released under restrictive conditions, including a 14-day ban on approaching Aharish or contacting her. Ben Yehuda also returned to the location last Wednesday along with other activists.

The incidents occurred against the backdrop of comments Aharish, made on air about growing violence in Arab society and upcoming elections: “Arabs are citizens of this country, and despite your righteousness, in the coming election, they will come out in droves to the polls, inshallah,” alluding to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s infamous appeal in the final hours of the 2015 election, when he warned in a video: “Hurry, friends, the Arabs are going out in droves to vote, they’re being bused in by the left.”

She then says that Arabs will vote in large numbers during the upcoming election, “to realize their democratic right in the Jewish and democratic state,” adding that until then, Israel’s Arabs will continue to hold protests against the unprecedented wave of violence striking the community.

Aharish’s scathing monologue triggered Israel’s right, with the newscaster receiving threats and racist messages on social media, while becoming a prime focal point for Channel 14, a TV news channel primarily affiliated with right-wing politicians and messaging in support of the government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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