Police detain far-right provocateur, after harassment of Arab journalist Lucy Aharish

Police detained far-right provocateur Mordechai David on Monday after he harassed Arab Israeli journalist Lucy Aharish and her husband, actor Tsahi Halevi, while they left the Tel Aviv District Court.

Footage of the incident showed a group of civilian volunteers forming a circle around the news anchor and her husband as they exited the courtroom and walked out the door to catch a taxi, while David and several right-wing activists hounded the pair.

After David followed the couple for several minutes, officers were seen taking him to a police car.

According to the Civil Support, a group of activists who came to the courthouse to guard Aharish, officers detained David and took him to a police station for questioning.

Police announced later Monday that David had been transferred to house arrest after his interrogation at the station. He was questioned on suspicion of assault, disorderly conduct, and invasion of privacy, police added.

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David had serially harassed Aharish for several months, and was subject to a temporary restraining order after showing up on her doorstep in February alongside more than a dozen other right-wing agitators.

מרדכי דוד נלקח לתחנת המשטרה.

צילום: עפרי איתן pic.twitter.com/cnN4CniyO7

— הסיוע האזרחי (@civil_support1) June 15, 2026

ِAharish and her husband arrived in court Monday for a hearing on an appeal filed by Likud activist Rami Ben-Yehuda in Aharish’s ongoing lawsuit against him, the pro-government Channel 14 outlet reported.

In March, Aharish sued Ben-Yehuda, an associate of David, accusing him of leading a harassment campaign against her, and demanding NIS 2.6 million ($840,000) in compensation.

The lawsuit noted that on February 21, Ben-Yehuda and David entered the couple’s apartment building while their minor son was home and began shouting.

Additional offenses reportedly included 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, her husband, a “traitor,” claiming that he had “sold his soul to Palestine.”

Earlier this year, Aharish said that the activists were Prime Minister Benjamin 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.

Halevi has served hundreds of days in reserve duty over the past three years, fought in border communities during 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.

David, who serially harasses left-wing and liberal journalists and public figures, has been detained or summoned by police for questioning several times, most recently for attempting to block Eyal Berkovic, the former soccer star turned news presenter, from driving in Ramat Hasharon last week.

המוקד: העימות בין מרדכי דוד לאייל ברקוביץ’ והסרטון שעורר סערה: המשטרה פתחה בבדיקה ובוחנת לזמן את השניים לחקירה pic.twitter.com/io5sk4UvX6

— חדשות המוקד (@hamoked_il) June 9, 2026

Berkovic was himself questioned under caution days later, for allegedly continuing to drive while David attempted to block his car, and police said that the investigation into the incident was ongoing. According to reports, he was released under restrictive conditions.

Police said that the two were summoned for questioning “following documentation that was distributed online, in which suspicion arose of blocking a vehicle and reckless driving while endangering human life.”

According to Hebrew media reports, Berkovic claimed to police that David “ambushed” him, and he was “afraid to stop because he might fall and get run over.”

Despite his status as a convicted felon, David has received repeated support from members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition. He has been hosted by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has authority over the police, and praised by other coalition politicians.