Hours after a cellphone was discovered on the seabed off Herzliya Beach, police were still working Friday to determine whether it belongs to former Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who was released earlier in the day to house arrest.
A police official said that “all signs indicate” the phone is Tomer-Yerushalmi’s, but authorities have not yet confirmed that. The police cyber unit was conducting tests to verify ownership, using the device’s serial number to trace when it was purchased, who registered it, and which cellular antennas it connected to. “A conclusive answer will be available within a few hours,” a police official said, describing the discovery as “strange.”
The phone was found by open-water swimmer Noa Itiel, who said she spotted it on the sea floor while swimming near Herzliya. After surfacing, she pressed a button and saw a lock screen image of someone she recognized from the media as the Military Advocate General.
Tomer-Yerushalmi and her phone were last seen on Sunday, five days before the discovery. While a phone left in airplane mode can sometimes retain a charge for a week or more, police expressed surprise that its battery remained functional and that it survived exposure to the salty Mediterranean waters.
Investigators have not ruled out other possibilities, including that the phone does not belong to Tomer-Yerushalmi or that it was thrown into the water more recently than previously believed. Some police sources even suggested it could be part of an investigative maneuver.
The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on Friday approved Tomer-Yerushalmi’s release from Neve Tirza Prison to 10 days of house arrest. She is barred from contacting other individuals connected to the case for 55 days.
Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi leaving prison
(Video: Mickey Schmidt)
Tomer-Yerushalmi, who admitted to involvement in leaking a video that appeared to show IDF reservists abusing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility, is suspected of fraud and breach of trust, abuse of office, obstruction of justice, and providing information by a public official.
She posted bail of NIS 20,000. Police did not request that her passport be confiscated or that she be banned from leaving the country.
Tomer-Yerushalmi, photographed leaving Neve Tirza on Friday for the first time since the case broke, walked quickly past reporters and declined to answer questions.