Noa Tishby

Early life

Noa Tishby was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, in May 1975, into a Jewish family involved in the establishment of Israel. The kibbutz her grandfather co-founded was among the first in Israel's history. Tishby began acting at an early age, appearing in commercials by age 8. As a teenager, she earned a drama scholarship from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and acted in several stage productions and television shows. She also served two and a half years in the Israel Defense Forces.

Career

Tishby began to achieve fame in Israel in the 1990s, appearing on the Israeli television drama Ramat Aviv Gimmel and starring as Anita in a production of West Side Story at the Habima Theatre. She released an English language album (Nona) and appeared on magazine covers and billboard ads as a model. In the early 2000s, she moved to Los Angeles.

By 2006, Tishby had appeared in a series of television roles on shows like Star Trek: Enterprise, Nip/Tuck, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The 4400, and Charmed. She 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. The resultant American adaptation, In Treatment, premiered in 2008 with Tishby as co-executive producer along with Mark Wahlberg.

It ran for three seasons between 2008 and 2010, before returning for a fourth season in 2021 with Tishby still as co-executive producer. The show, which follows a series of fictional therapy sessions, won a Peabody Award in 2009. In the years during and after In Treatments first run, Tishby continued to play roles on TV shows like NCIS and Big Love.

Additionally, Tishby began pitching adaptations of other Israeli programs to American networks through her production company Noa's Arc. Tishby was responsible for the development of adaptations for A Touch Away, as well as Life Isn't Everything, which was renamed Divorce: A Love Story for the American version.

Activism

Tishby has been an activist advocating for Israel since at least 2011. Tishby has harshly criticized the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, referring to the principles behind its cause as "misinformation, disinformation, manipulation, elimination of history and flat-out lies." She has called Amnesty International's characterization of Israel as an apartheid state "disgraceful".

In 2014, she founded Reality Israel, which holds a series of "leadership trips" for Jewish and non-Jewish people in Israel. In 2016 and 2018, she spoke before the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in support of Israel. In February 2021, Tishby joined the Black–Jewish Entertainment Alliance.

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. She also registered as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). 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.

During the Gaza war, Tishby has been a leading Zionist voice in the U.S. In an interview with the National Post, she stated that Israel had lost its public relations war. On November 29, 2025, Tishby was assaulted during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Paris. The footage she shared on her social media outlets shows a protester grabbing a phone belonging to a person with her and throwing it to the ground. Over the course of the rally, she reported being verbally abused, pursued by protesters, and subjected to explicit insults and hostile slogans directed at her and at Israel.

Books

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 BDS movement as it pertains to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The book was published by Simon & Schuster.

In 2024, Simon & Schuster published her second book on antisemitism, co-written with African-American activist Emmanuel Acho, titled Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew.

Act for Israel

In 2011, Tishby founded Act for Israel, an online Zionist advocacy organization. Tishby created the group with a stated goal of correcting misinformation about Israel's history, culture, and governmental policies. In 2025, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft reported on leaked emails indicating that Act for Israel's activities on behalf of Israel violated FARA, and that the scope and timeline of Tishby's pro-Israel work went beyond what she had disclosed when registering as a foreign agent.

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.

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.

Filmography

As actress

Film

Television

As producer

References

References

1. Steinberg, Jessica. (June 2, 2015). "Actress turns 40 with Zionist debate". Times of Israel.
2. Sarner, Robert. (May 6, 2021). "Israeli actress Noa Tishby's 'Simple Guide' to Israel shakes up US progressives". The Times of Israel.
3. Ghermezian, Shiryn. (April 19, 2021). "Israeli-American Actress-Turned-Author Noa Tishby Seeks to Explain 'Misunderstood' Israel in New Book". Algemeiner Journal.
4. Fishbach, Brian. (October 6, 2021). "Noa Tishby: From Hollywood to Israel". Jewish Journal.
5. Brinn, David. (June 26, 2008). "Israeli impresario". The Jerusalem Post.
6. Schleier, Curt. (May 2021). "Noa Tishby's 'Simple Guide' to Israel". Hadassah Magazine.
7. (February 1, 2017). "Two-way cultural transfer: the case of the Israeli TV series ''BeTipul'' and its American adaptation ''In Treatment''". Media, Culture & Society.
8. Kupfer, Ruta. (November 2, 2006). "America Needs to Be 'In Treatment'". Haaretz.
9. Saval, Malina. (June 11, 2018). "In Treatment". Variety.
10. Del Rosario, Alexandria. (April 12, 2021). "'In Treatment': HBO's Uzo Aduba Therapy Drama Gets Season 4 Premiere Date, Teaser". Deadline.
11. (2009). "In Treatment". Peabody Awards.
12. Popper, Nathaniel. (January 21, 2009). "Big Love's Resident Kibbutznik". Forward.
13. Spence, Rebecca. (March 13, 2008). "Hollywood Execs Tune In to Israeli Television". Forward.
14. Klein Leichman, Abigail. (August 14, 2018). "10 prominent Israelis at the head of US businesses". Israel21c.
15. Andreeva, Nellie. (October 30, 2011). "CBS Buys Adaptation Of Hit Israeli Comedy 'Life Isn't Everything'". Deadline.
16. Andreeva, Nellie. (February 1, 2013). "ABC Greenlights Divorce Comedy Pilot". Deadline.
17. (February 6, 2022). "Report labelling Israel an apartheid state is 'disgraceful'". News.com.au.
18. Saval, Malina. (April 7, 2021). "'In Treatment' Executive Producer Noa Tishby Drops Debut Book on Israel". Variety.
19. Hartog, Kelly. (February 5, 2021). "Over 170 celebrities join Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance". The Jerusalem Post.
20. (April 11, 2022). "Lapid appoints activist actress Noa Tishby as antisemitism envoy".
21. Echols, Connor. (December 2, 2025). "Inside Israel's shadow campaign to win over American media".
22. (April 2, 2023). "Israel fires special envoy Noa Tishby who had criticized judicial reform".
23. Rosman, Katherine. (2023-11-02). "An 'Israel Explainer' Makes Her Country's Case in America". The New York Times.
24. Gordon, Dave. (October 5, 2025). "Interview with Noa Tishby: Two years after October 7, Israel has lost the PR war". [[National Post]].
25. i24NEWS. (2025-12-09). "Noa Tishby assaulted during Pro-Palestine rally in Paris".
26. (2024-05-01). "New book "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew" tackles antisemitism amid pro-Palestine protests across United States - CBS Philadelphia".
27. Brinn, David. (November 18, 2021). "Noa Tishby: I don't care if I lose acting jobs for my support of Israel". The Jerusalem Post.
28. (9 August 2016). "Osher's ex-wife breaks her silence: 'It became toxic'". News.com.au.
29. (September 14, 2023). "Noa's Arc: How Noa Tishby went from actress to Israel activist".
30. (2022-12-19). "Noa Tishby Becomes The 11,000th Person To Sign The Jewish Future Pledge". Boulder Jewish News.