Lucy Aharish is one of the most prominent television broadcasters in Israel. But that’s not the thing that makes her exceptional. The thing that makes Lucy stand out is that she is the first Arab Muslim news presenter on mainstream, Hebrew-language Israeli television.
Born and raised in a small Jewish town in Israel’s Negev desert as one of the only Arab Muslim families there, Lucy often says that she sees herself as sitting on a fence. By that she doesn’t mean she’s unwilling to take a side—as you’ll see, she is a woman of strong convictions, bravery, and moral backbone. What she means is that she has a unique lens through which to view the divisions in Israeli society, the complexity of the country’s national identity, and the Middle East more generally.
That complexity was on display in 2018 when Lucy’s marriage to a Jewish Israeli actor (Tsahi Halevi of Fauda fame) sparked a nasty backlash from the country’s religious far-right.
Lucy has long been a vocal critic of those peripheral far-right voices—the ones who are inclined to oppose her marriage. She’s also long been critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But she is equally critical of her fellow Arab Israelis, particularly of Arab violence and of the Arab leadership that she says condones it.
An Arab. A proud Israeli. A Muslim married to a Jew. In short, Lucy Aharish is an iconoclast.
I sat down with Lucy recently in Tel Aviv. We talked about the October 7 massacre and its impact on the country and her family—her husband put on his uniform and headed to the south within hours of Hamas’s invasion of the country. Left alone with her son, she contemplated “hiding him in the washing machine,” should terrorists arrive at her doorstep.
Lucy also talked about the challenges she faced growing up as the only Arab Muslim kid in a traditional Jewish village, and how she was bullied for that but doesn’t view herself as a victim. We talked about the terrorist attack that she survived in Gaza as a child, which makes October 7 all the more personal to her. We discussed why she believes that Israelis and Arabs share the same destiny, the hope that she has for her Muslim-Jewish son, and the future of the country she loves—and calls home.
I’ve been very lucky in my career: I’ve done many interviews that have stayed with me. But this might be the most moving of all.
Watch our full conversation here:
This interview is part of a larger project based on recent Free Press reporting in Israel. We spoke to dozens of people living the war every day: from October 7 survivors and reservists fighting in Gaza to Israeli refugees and Palestinians in Ramallah. We’re excited to bring you more of those conversations soon. Follow us on YouTube, X, Instagram, and TikTok for updates.
Last, important note: taking The Free Press on the road requires producers, camera operators, researchers, and a lot of coffee. The best way to support our ongoing coverage of the war in the Middle East—and everything else we do—is by becoming a paid subscriber:
My observation of the Palestinian Israeli issue is pretty simple. The Palestinians want their land back and they expect that Israeli’s to give it back to them. The rest is noise. Or if you will violence.
I don’t excuse Israeli violence nor do I excuse Palestinian violence. I’m simply going to say this. Palestinians have had extremely poor leadership. Arafat had a chance to make peace but he was a grifter. It is a matter of faith that the Jews must be driven out of Palestine. For a Palestinian leader to cave and make peace it will be seen as a betrayal. It won’t last. Why?
Somebody please tell me. Hove you seen a Gandhi or a Mandela or a Martin Luther King present in Palestinian politics? I don’t see a peace movement. I think a two state solution is fine, except I don’t see a Palestinian leadership who will lead it. A leadership who will not do what Hamas did, which is to build up a armyto kill Israelis. Netanyahu, may be an asshole, but his retort to Blinken and Biden should simply be, "who do I make a peace with"? Who has a following? Who has the personality to sustain a peace, to get the Palestinians to lay down their hatred?
Until you have a true leader with whom the Palestinian people will follow, there is no-one to make a peace with.
Not having an hour to watch this, I am not interested in hearing the voice of an iconoclastic and brave new reader on this issue. I watched Bibi on two talking head shows yesterday and saw they are in the final phase of the military operation. The attack against Rafah is the last place to root out the structure of Hamas. Once that is done, then what?
For me, a two-state solution is not viable as long as the Palestinian mindset is based on hate, revenge, and retribution. The land for peace deal in 2005 led to the massacre of October 7th. Gazans have proven they can not govern themselves, so some sort of international force is going to have to rule and administer the state with the hope of the people becoming modern and reasonable in their outlook.
Sadly, that is a pipedream, but they can never allowed again to be a threat to Israel. So, they will be a subjugated people for the foreseeable future, which will be harsh, cruel, and necessary.