Noa Tohar Tishby (Hebrew: נועה טוהר תשבי; Hebrew pronunciation:[no'ʔatiʃ'bi]; born May 1975[1]) is an Israeli activist, actress, model, producer, and writer. As an actress, she appeared in a variety of American television shows and movies, including The Affair, The Island, Nip/Tuck, Big Love, NCIS, and others. She is also the co-executive producer of the HBO series, In Treatment, which is an adaptation of the Israeli series, BeTipul. Her production company, Noa's Arc, was also responsible for selling several other adaptations of Israeli programs to American networks.
Tishby also focuses on Zionist activism, founding the advocacy organization Act for Israel in 2011. In 2021, she published her first book, Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth. She served as the Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and the Delegitimization of Israel for one year, from 2022 to 2023.
Early life
Noa Tishby was born in Tel Aviv, Israel,[2] in May 1975,[1] into a Jewish family involved in the establishment of Israel.[3] The kibbutz her grandfather co-founded was among the first in Israel's history.[3] Tishby began acting at an early age, appearing in commercials by age 8.[4] As a teenager, she earned a drama scholarship from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and acted in several stage productions and television shows.[5] She also served two and a half years in the Israel Defense Forces.[4]
Career
Tishby began to achieve fame in Israel in the 1990s, appearing on the Israeli television drama, Ramat Aviv Gimmel[2] and starring as Anita in a production of West Side Story at the Habima Theatre.[5][6] She also released an English language album (Nona)[5] and appeared on magazine covers and billboard ads as a model.[2] In the early 2000s, she moved to Los Angeles.[4]
By 2006, Tishby had appeared in a series of television roles on shows like Star Trek, Nip/Tuck, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The 4400, and Charmed. She also had a part in the 2005 film, The Island. In 2008, Tishby sold the Israeli drama series, BeTipul, to HBO. It was the first Israeli format to become an American television show.[7] The resultant American adaptation, In Treatment,[8] premiered in 2008 with Tishby as co-executive producer along with Mark Wahlberg.[9]
It ran for three seasons between 2008 and 2010, before returning for a fourth season in 2021 with Tishby still as co-executive producer.[10] The show, which follows a series of fictional therapy sessions, won a Peabody Award in 2009.[11] In the years during and after In Treatment's first run, Tishby continued to play roles on TV shows like NCIS and Big Love.[12][13]
Additionally, Tishby began pitching adaptations of other Israeli programs to American networks[14] through her production company, Noa's Arc.[12] Tishby was responsible for the development of adaptations for A Touch Away,[14] as well as Life Isn't Everything,[15] which was renamed Divorce: A Love Story for the American version.[16]
In April 2021, she released her first book, Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth. The book discusses the history and culture of Israel with autobiographical details. In the book, Tishby takes a Zionist stance and criticizes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as it pertains to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[2] The book was published by Simon & Schuster.[17]
Activism
Tishby has been an activist advocating for Israel since at least 2011.[2] That year she founded Act for Israel, an online Zionist advocacy organization. Tishby created the group to help correct misinformation about Israel's history, culture, and governmental policies.[3][18] Specifically, Tishby has harshly criticized the BDS movement, referring to the principles behind its cause as "misinformation, disinformation, manipulation, elimination of history and flat-out lies."[2] She has also called Amnesty International's characterization of Israel as an apartheid state to be "disgraceful".[19]
In 2014, she founded Reality Israel, which holds a series of "leadership trips" for Jewish and non-Jewish people in Israel.[17] In 2016 and 2018, she spoke before the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in support of Israel.[2] In February 2021, Tishby joined the Black–Jewish Entertainment Alliance.[20]
In April 2022, Tishby was appointed by then-Prime Minister Yair Lapid as Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and the Delegitimization of Israel, the first person to serve in the newly created position.[21] In April 2023, she was dismissed from the position after she spoke out against the judicial reform proposed by the new government of re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[22]
During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Tishby has been a leading Zionist voice in the U.S.[23] In 2024, Tisby wrote that social media is a main site for skyrocketing antisemitism, with its anonymity, bots, and trolls such as 2021's “Malaysian Troll Army”. She called on social media platforms to increase content moderation, adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism, and provide active reporting mechanisms. She called on governments to strengthen laws against hate speech and hold social media companies accountable. She called on civil societies to recognize and counter antisemitism embedded in education, and provide legal and psychological support to victims of online antisemitism.[24]
Personal life
Tishby was married to Australian television presenter Osher Günsberg from 2008 to 2011. She later had a relationship with financier Ross Hinkle, which produced a son, Ari, born in November 2015. Tishby and Hinkle are no longer together, and co-parent Ari. Tishby is on good terms with both Günsberg and Hinkle.[4][25][26]
In 2022, Tishby became the 11,000th signer of the Jewish Future Pledge, a charitable campaign modeled after The Giving Pledge to encourage American Jews to designate at least 50% of their charitable giving to Jewish- or Israel-related causes.[27]
