Avichay Adraee to retire, Israeli media reports

A familiar face to the Lebanese public and accross the region — known during the war for announcing some of the Israeli strikes — is soon expected to step away from the spotlight: Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, is set to retire after more than two decades in the spokesperson’s unit, several Israeli media reported Tuesday.

Adraee played a key role in what the Israeli army calls its “operational media strategy,” addressing Arabic speakers from Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Yemen, particularly since the onset of the Gaza War on Oct. 7, 2023.

During his long term, Adraee regularly shared evacuation maps and issued warnings prior to Israeli army strikes in Gaza and Lebanon. His communications, however, went beyond these areas, at times targeting audiences in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Iran as part of a broader effort to extend the Israeli army’s regional media influence.

With millions of followers on social media and appearing in hundreds of interviews on Arabic-language media, Adraee emerged as the main face of the Israeli army in the Arab world.

'Currently no timeline for Adraee to leave the role'

Adraee began his military career in the Intelligence Directorate's Unit 8200 Signal Intelligence unit, and joined the spokesperson's unit in 2005, the Jerusalem Post reported.

According to the same publication, the Israeli army radio's journalist Doron Kadosh stated that "there is currently no timeline for Adraee to leave the role, and that discussions are ongoing with Israeli army spokesperson... Effie Defrin over both the timing and who should succeed Adraee."

Israeli newspaper Maariv reported Tuesday that three candidates are currently being evaluated, including via on-camera performance tests, to succeed Adraee in the role.

The Israeli army has had, for the past years, another Arabic-language spokesperson, Captain Ella, who posts warnings, maps and other updates in Arabic but is considerably less well-known than Adraee. She currently holds the formal title of deputy spokesperson for the Arab world and head of the Arab communications department, serving under Adraee during his tenure.

'Speaks Arabic and understands the cultural nuances of each country'

With over 838,000 followers on X, over 399,000 on Instagram, and over 1.2 million on TikTok, Adraee speaks Arabic and understands the cultural nuances of each country, down to proverbs and jokes.

Adraee’s face first appeared during the July 2006 Lebanon war. A few years earlier, Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry launched a public relations offensive targeting Arab audiences, creating spokesperson positions for Arab speakers to address local and foreign Arabic-language media.

In a 2004 article titled “Here Comes the Spokesperson for the Occupation Army,” Haaretz, an Israeli media channel, described the shift in communication strategy, noting that the “dominant opinion” had been “not to communicate with the enemy.” Eitan Arusi, the first person to hold the position, didn’t last long because he was deemed “too Western.” Adraee, however, had the “perfect profile.”

The young soldier, born in Haifa in 1982, has maternal grandparents from Iraq and paternal ones from Turkey and Syria. Both his appearance and his accent would allow him to blend in seamlessly in the streets of Cairo or Beirut. “I speak Arabic all day, and sometimes I even dream in Arabic,” he told the Israeli online outlet Mako in 2021, explaining that it was his father who pushed him to study the language.