Naor Zion’s “Stolen Car” Turns Out to Have Been Seized Over a Tax Debt

Stand-up comedian Naor Zion spent about a week publicly attacking the Israel Police after he believed his car had been stolen from outside his home in Tel Aviv. He said he filed a complaint at the same station where he had previously submitted four other complaints without getting service, and posted angry remarks about alleged chaos and poor management. Zion also published recordings of calls with police dispatchers, saying he was told the car was probably in the West Bank and that he would be contacted if new information emerged.

The story took a different turn after it emerged the car had not been stolen at all. According to reports and a post by Yevgeny Zrubinski, the vehicle was impounded by the Israel Tax Authority because of an unpaid debt, after what officials said were several prior warnings. Tax Authority sources said they do not send a text message after a seizure, only advance notices before enforcement, and that the police are automatically updated about vehicle seizures.

Police sources said Zion had reported a break-in, not a theft, which may have kept the tax seizure notice from appearing in the system. A law-enforcement source told Walla that Zion himself had raised the possibility that the car had been seized during one of the calls, but, the source said, he chose to attack the police instead of checking what had happened.

In his response, Zion said that 8 days earlier he found the car missing, initially considered that it might have been impounded by Tel Aviv Municipality or the Tax Authority, and only later filed a theft complaint because he had received no notice. He said police told him the car was likely in the West Bank, and only after 5 days informed him it had been seized. Zion said he was shocked that no one told him earlier, and claimed the Tax Authority acted “like a mafia” by seizing cars without warning. Police said they are reviewing the handling of the case and drawing lessons if needed.