Phone mixup gives girl direct line to PM

A young girl who handed her mobile phone in for repair last week found that the replacement phone she was given featured the telephone numbers of some of Israel’s most powerful people.

The direct number to the prime minister’s bureau, the phone numbers of the heads of the Mossad and the Shin Bet, Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub, and former defense minister Ehud Barak were only some of the contacts that appeared on-screen. She also saw past sms conversations with members of Knesset and senior defense officials.

In one conversation, the phone’s previous owner suggested that his contact turn to Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah, if he wanted to gain traction with Finance Minister Yair Lapid.

The girl’s mother said that though her daughter was amused to find the numbers to the Israeli embassy in the US and former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi, she and her husband were less so.

“The contact list was heavy,” the mother told Maariv. “We have no reason to have those numbers.” She said the phone had previously been in the possession of a spokesperson of one of the government ministries, and that some of the numbers were old and no longer in use.

The family later returned the phone to the company and asked to erase the numbers.

Pelephone, the phone company, said the matter was under investigation.