Two Iranian women arrested in Namibia after claiming to be Israeli were initially misidentified in Wednesday media reports as Israeli mother and daughter Mali and Liel Yahalomi, who were found in Argentina nearly two months ago.
The two women were arrested after being found with fake Hungarian passports and claiming to be Israeli. After the passports were determined to be fraudulent, Namibian authorities contacted Israel’s Consulate in South Africa to verify the women’s identities.
The women were subsequently found to be Iranian nationals with no connection to the Yahalomis, an Israeli mother and daughter whose disappearance sparked an international search before they were located in Argentina.
Namibia rabbi: I realized immediately - these aren't Israelis, they're Iranian
Rabbi Yosef Rahimi, the Chabad Lubavitch emissary in Namibia, told Walla that he immediately realized the two women were Iranian when he met them at the police station.
Rahimi explained that he had heard reports of Israelis detained at the station and went to bring them breakfast there.
"I looked at them, said, 'Hello, good morning,' and realized immediately - these aren't Israelis, they're Iranian," Rahimi recounted. "They looked at me in shock, like they were trying to figure out who I was and what I was doing there."
Rahimi added that his father was born in Iran and still has family there, so he was familiar with the Persian language enough to converse with the two women and "see how they were doing."
He also told Walla that although he discovered the two were not Israeli, he still gave them the food he had brought. "At least they got an Israeli breakfast out of it," he said. "Everything was strictly kosher."
He expressed frustration that the matter had been leaked to the media before the information was verified, leading people to believe that the Yahalomis were actually in Namibia.
Mali Yahalomi, 50, and her 23-year-old daughter, Liel, both residents of Modi'in, left Israel on August 4, 2026, for a trip to Europe.
The two later traveled to Vienna, where contact with them was lost. When they failed to return to Israel on their scheduled flight, their family reported them missing, prompting an international search.
The investigation was later transferred to Lahav 433, with authorities examining several scenarios, including kidnapping or a security-related incident. Investigators subsequently gathered indications suggesting that the women had left of their own free will and had taken steps in advance to make themselves difficult to locate. Reports said they had purchased replacement phones, turned off or disrupted location services, and deleted applications.
According to published findings from the investigation, the women traveled through the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany before continuing to South America.
Authorities found no indication of criminal offense or kidnapping
On August 14, they were located on a bus in Argentina after nearly a week of searches spanning several continents. Supt. Walter Kogan, the Israel Police representative in Latin America, boarded the bus, identified himself to the women, and confirmed that they were in good health and not in danger.
Following brief questioning in Argentina, authorities found no indication at the time of a criminal offense or that the two were being held against their will. They were released and allowed to continue their journey after police determined that they were two adult women who had left voluntarily.
Their reported arrest in Namibia is therefore a separate, later development, following their disappearance in Europe and subsequent discovery in Argentina in August.
Anna Barsky and Alon Hachmon contributed to this report.