Police checking whether phone found on Tel Aviv beach belongs to IDF’s former top lawyer

By Emanuel Fabian

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and ToI Staff 7 November 2025, 10:06 am

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Civilians found a phone in the sea at Hatzuk Beach near Tel Aviv this morning, which may belong to former military advocate general Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, five days after its disappearance there.

Images circulating on social media show the phone turned on, with the lock screen wallpaper displaying an image of Tomer-Yerushalmi and her daughter.

Police say officers reached the scene and took the phone for further investigation.

Tomer-Yerushalmi has admitted to responsibility for leaking a video to the media that purported to show IDF soldiers severely abusing a Gazan detainee at the Sde Teiman facility. She is suspected of trying to obstruct an investigation into the leak.

The disgraced official went missing at the Tel Aviv coast for several hours Sunday, leading police to fear she had taken her own life. When she was found in Herzliya that night, officers were unable to locate her phone and now suspect that the incident may have been an attempt to stage a suicide while disposing of digital evidence related to the leaking and subsequent cover-up.

The phone’s disappearance was followed by days of searches in the area, including by divers.