Israeli police open probe after threats against Arab journalist

Protesters gathered in front of her home on Wednesday evening for the fourth time in three weeks and used megaphones to hurl insults and make racist remarks, according to footage widely broadcast on Israeli television. (AP/File)

• Arab Israeli journalist Lucy Aharish reported being the target of a far-right hate campaign in recent weeks
• Threats followed her on-air accusations that authorities show contempt for the Arab minority and lack the will to tackle crime within the community

Jerusalem: Israeli police said Thursday they had opened an investigation after Israeli Arab journalist Lucy Aharish reported being the target of a far-right hate campaign in recent weeks.
Aharish this month denounced the authorities on her current affairs show on Israeli commercial TV channel Reshet, accusing them of contempt for the Arab minority and of lacking the will to combat a surge in violent crime gripping the community.
“Arabs are citizens, whether you like it or not, and they will go and vote in the upcoming elections in the Jewish and democratic state,” she said.
Aharish, born to Muslim parents, speaks flawless Hebrew and was the first Arab to anchor a Hebrew-language program on Israeli television.
She said she has received numerous threatening messages from the right and far-right since she made her remarks on February 1.
Protesters gathered in front of her home on Wednesday evening for the fourth time in three weeks and used megaphones to hurl insults and make racist remarks, according to footage widely broadcast on Israeli television.
Police arrested two suspects and released them conditionally, a police spokesperson told AFP, adding that an “investigation is underway.”
On Sunday, Aharish said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who heads one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history, shared the blame for the threats against her.
“You are guilty... so long as you don’t rein in your thugs,” she said on air.
Israeli Arabs, descendants of Palestinians who stayed on their land after Israel’s creation in 1948, comprise less than 20 percent of Israel’s population of 10.1 million.