Israel Privacy Authority Probes Police Over Leaked Personal Data of Mali and Liel Yahalomi

Israel's Privacy Protection Authority has ordered the police to conduct a comprehensive investigation into suspected privacy violations concerning Mali and Liel Yahalomi. The order follows the publication of sensitive personal videos and details about the sisters after they were located in Argentina. The Authority stated that an examination of the publications indicates that, in at least some instances, the information originated from within the police.

Advocate Gilad Samama, head of the Authority, contacted Police Inspector General Daniel Levi and the Internal Police Privacy Supervisor George Kivorkian. Samama instructed Kivorkian to use his authority under the Privacy Protection Law to determine how the documentation and personal information reached the media, allegedly in violation of police procedures. The directive came after a series of publications following the sisters' location in Argentina on August 14, 2026.

Among the published materials were videos showing the sisters in vulnerable situations during their discovery on a bus and their questioning by a police representative. The Authority noted that sensitive details from the investigation were also revealed, including private correspondence, searches conducted using artificial intelligence tools, information about their financial status and activities, their location and movements, and their expected arrival time in Israel.

The investigation is also required to examine whether any considerations were made before allowing the publications. Furthermore, the police were instructed to formulate systemic conclusions and lessons regarding privacy protection when transferring information to the media in similar incidents and to provide the Authority with the findings and lessons learned.

"The importance of publishing the location and well-being of missing persons is clear to all, but there is a significant difficulty in publishing videos of them in vulnerable moments and exposing their personal details, movements, location, and financial activity details after they have already been located," Samama said. He added, "These publications, which apparently originated from the police investigation, allegedly caused significant damage to their privacy, without legitimate justification and apparently contrary to the police's own procedures. The Israel Police is required to conduct an in-depth investigation into whether and how the information leaked and to draw the necessary lessons, all to ensure that citizens' basic right to privacy is not violated in events of this type."