Arab-Israeli journalist Lucy Aharish sues Likud activist over racist harassment

Arab-Israeli journalist Lucy Aharish and her partner, actor Tzachi Halevi, filed a lawsuit against Rami Ben-Yehuda in the Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday, suing the Likud activist for 2.6 million NIS ($840,000) for leading a racist and violent harassment campaign against them.

Channel 13’s Aharish and “Fauda” star Halevi are seeking compensation for defamation, serious invasion of privacy, trespassing, and violation of freedom of movement, among other claims.

There were multiple demonstrations at Aharish’s Tel Aviv home last month, as right-wing activists, including Ben-Yehuda, shouted at her with a megaphone phrases such as “Inshallah you have a heart attack” and “Bibi is king,” using the nickname for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The lawsuit specifically notes that on February 21, Ben-Yehuda and fellow right-wing activist Mordechai David entered the couple’s apartment building while their minor son was home and began shouting. Both were detained by police on suspicion of trespassing and disturbing the peace.

Ben-Yehuda and David were later barred from approaching Aharish’s home or contacting her for a period of 14 days.

Additional offenses, according to Israel Hayom, include publishing an edited photo of Aharish against a background of an Iranian flag while calling her a “terrorist” and showing her wearing a hijab. Ben-Yehuda also called Halevi a “traitor,” claiming that he had “sold his soul to Palestine.”

Retweeting the Israel Hayom article on the lawsuit she filed, Aharish wrote: “The next [lawsuits] are on the way.”

According to the lawsuit, Aharish had to be given security protection at her workplace due to the harassment that she suffered and had to cancel a planned lecture at Stanford University.

The anger at Aharish was sparked by a statement she made on Channel 13 last month, where she pointed to the “righteous anger” of Arab Israelis due to perceived government inaction over the crime wave that has claimed the lives of hundreds in the community in recent years.

Arab citizens, she said, in the next elections will “flock to the voting booths” to bring a change in government, and added the Arabic word “Inshallah,” meaning “God willing.”

Last month, Aharish said that the activists were Netanyahu’s “goons” and warned on her show that “the blood is on the hands of whoever was silent” if anything were to happen to her, her family, or other journalists.

Aharish’s partner Halevi, who has served hundreds of days in reserve duty over the past two years, fought in border communities amid the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, and is widely credited with saving dozens of lives. Aharish, who due to her high-profile position received multiple pleas for help from those trapped during the attack, helped direct forces to reach and rescue them.

Aharish, a Muslim Arab whose parents hail from Nazareth but who was educated in Jewish institutions, lit a torch at the state Independence Day ceremony in 2015.