Lucy Aharish: The Muslim Woman Who Became Israel's First Arab News Anchor

Lucy Aharish was the first Arab Muslim woman to anchor the news in Hebrew on mainstream Israeli TV. On October 7, while her husband — Fauda star Tsahi Halevi — headed south with his unit, she helped steer a rescue team to 12 people trapped in a Kfar Aza safe room. She's interviewed a Hamas official and a sitting president, and this year she faced a mob outside her own apartment.

In this episode of Build or Break, Lucy sits down with Daniel Lubetzky to talk identity, extremism, and courage. She opens up about growing up the only Arab Muslim girl in a Jewish town, and catching her best friend writing "filthy Arab" on the school wall — then making her face her every day instead of having her expelled. She breaks down the difference between Islam and Islamism, why citizen journalism is costing us the ability to agree on basic facts, and what happened when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put her in his campaign ad.

Plus: the Mexican Inquisition and the Hava Nagila audition that landed her in World War Z. 

00:00 Intro

01:58 From Nazareth to Dimona 

07:42 Being the Only Muslim in School 

11:34 "I have a complex identity" 

15:55 The '90s terror wave

19:09 The graffiti, the principal, and Grandpa Menachem 

24:10 "She was my best friend" 

31:33 Criticizing her government and Hamas 

39:41 "Is Israel a racist country?" 

47:13 What makes a great interviewer 

51:08 October 7: "This is not a drill" 

1:05:57 Lucy vs. Netanyahu, and the mob at her door 

1:12:06 The Mexican Inquisition

1:19:47 Build or Break 

Twitter/X: https://x.com/lucyaharish

https://www.threads.com/@lucyaharish

https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky

https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky

https://x.com/DanielLubetzky

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky

https://daniellubetzky.com/

🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/ 

Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/

Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery; Rob Naylor

Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/

Build or Break Team: 

Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky
Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider

Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin

Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black

Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned

Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose

Network Relations: Julianna Cohen