Iranians arrested in Namibia with fake passports misidentified as Mali and Liel Yahalomi
Two women, apparently mother and daughter, reportedly claimed to be Israeli, prompting mistaken conclusion they were pair who fled Israel in August and sparked days-long search
Two Iranian women detained in Namibia for traveling with fake passports posed as Israelis, and were misidentified by law enforcement there as Mali and Liel Yahalomi, the mother and daughter who disappeared in August and were found to have fled Israel for personal reasons.
Israel Police sources cited by Hebrew media on Wednesday said Namibian counterparts alerted them that Mali and Liel Yahalomi were arrested in the southwest African nation and had changed their appearances.
Mali’s brother told the Israel Hayom newspaper that the family had not received any official notice of the arrest.
Upon further investigation, an Israel Police representative discovered the women arrested in Namibia were not Israeli at all.
Rabbi Yosef Rahimi, an emissary of the Chabad Hasidic movement who resides in Namibia, told the Channel 12 news site: “I arrived to visit the two women in the detention cell. It became clear these were two Iranian citizens, a girl around 14 and her mother, around 40.”
“They didn’t know a word of Hebrew,” recalled the rabbi. “They spoke with me a little in English and a little in Persian.” The rabbi explained to the outlet that he comes from a family that immigrated to Israel from Iran, and so happens to speak the language.
הבוקר בנימביה נערכה פגישה מיוחדת בה נפגש הרב יוסף רחימי שליח הרבי מלך המשיח לנימביה עם שגריר גרמניה במדינה.
בפגישה הבטיח השגריר הגרמני לשליח הרבי, כי הוא ניצב לימינו של הבית החב"ד בכל מה שיתבקש pic.twitter.com/ERHEEES9zi— יוסי סולומון (@yosisolomon) January 18, 2024
Rabbi Yosef Rahimi (left) poses with the German Ambassador to Namibia. (Twitter)
The two women reportedly told immigration officers in Namibia that they were Israeli citizens. An official privy to the details told the outlet it is still unclear why they did that, but that it “caused officials in Israel to conclude it was Mali and Liel, before any Israeli had visited them.”
The mistake was clarified after Rahimi visited the two women and informed Israeli authorities.
According to Channel 12, the two women arrived in Namibia via a land crossing with fake Hungarian passports, successfully crossing the border and staying in the country for some three weeks. At the airport, as they tried to fly to Europe, the passports were identified as fraudulent.
The Yahalomis – Mali, 50, and daughter Liel, 23 – disappeared in Vienna in August, initially sparking concern that they were victims of foul play. Police tracked them to a flight to Argentina and located them on a bus in Buenos Aires, but the women refused to return to Israel.
It was not immediately clear why the two cut contact with their family, or why they flew to Argentina without telling anyone. Hebrew media reports quoted police sources as saying they had left Israel and made their way to Argentina to disappear and “start a new life.”