Breaking· Security· Updated
Iranians with Israeli Passports Detained in Namibia, Not Israeli Tourists
Two Iranian women, a mother and daughter, were arrested in Namibia on Wednesday on suspicion of possessing forged passports. During their interrogation, the women falsely claimed to be from Israel, leading to a mistaken report that they were Mali and Liel Yahalomi, an Israeli mother and daughter who had previously vanished in Europe.
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What happened
- 01Two Iranian women, a mother and her 14-year-old daughter, were arrested in Namibia on Wednesday for possessing forged passports.
- 02During interrogation, the detained Iranian women falsely claimed to be from Israel, sparking rumors they were missing Israelis.
- 03The detainees were initially mistaken for Mali and Liel Yahalomi, an Israeli mother and daughter who had fled Israel.
- 04Chabad emissary Rabbi Yosef Rahimi visited the detainees in Namibia and exposed their true Iranian identities.
- 05Rabbi Yosef Rahimi noted the women spoke English and Persian rather than Hebrew, and Israeli police confirmed they were impostors.
- 06The Yahalomi mother and daughter had previously disappeared in Europe in August before being located safe in Argentina.
- 07Namibian authorities are investigating the two Iranian women for the alleged use of fraudulent travel documents.
The confusion was resolved when Rabbi Yosef Rahimi, a Chabad emissary in Africa, visited the detainees at the police station to bring them food. Rabbi Rahimi discovered that the women, a mother around 40 years old and her 14-year-old daughter, did not speak Hebrew but instead spoke English and Persian. He confirmed they were Iranian, and Israeli police subsequently clarified that the detainees were not the Yahalomi women.
The Yahalomi mother and daughter had sparked a security scare when they disappeared in Europe in August, traveling through the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany. They were eventually located safe on a bus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where they were questioned and released without suspicion of criminal activity, with their disappearance reportedly linked to financial distress.
Summarized by baba from the reports of 3 newsrooms. Updated
Latest report: NEWSru Israel. Read NEWSru Israel’s originalThe coverage
5 newsrooms on this story
Who covered it
- LeftNone
- Centre1
- Right1
- Haredi1
- ArabNone
- Other2
Not in the Left or Arab press
