A group of amateur metal detector enthusiasts scoured a Tel Aviv beach on Monday in search of a missing cellphone belonging to former military advocate general Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, whose dramatic disappearance and reappearance Sunday sparked a wave of speculation and intensified a high-level leak investigation.
The search took place at Hof HaTzuk, the stretch of coastline where Tomer-Yerushalmi was located Sunday night following hours of being reported missing. The group, led by enthusiast Eitan Nahum—known locally as “Eitan Detectors”—was acting on a police tip about her last known location. Shortly after arriving around 4 p.m., a member of the group discovered a cellphone near the lifeguard station.
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'Eitan Detectors' and peers searching for ex-military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi's missing cellphone along a beach strip in Herzliya
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
The phone, described as damaged and possibly intentionally destroyed, was handed over to police. It remains unclear whether it belongs to Tomer-Yerushalmi. “It looked like someone had tried to smash it. I believe it washed ashore after being thrown into the sea,” said Daniel Shaulov, the volunteer who found the device. He added that the battery was still intact, suggesting the phone had only recently been in the water.
Though the group had previously announced a NIS 100,000 reward for finding the phone, Shaulov declined it, saying he would donate the sum to Force 100, a group of IDF reservists at the center of the investigation.
Force 100 is an unofficial name for a group of reserve soldiers involved in sensitive detention operations, including at a site known as Sde Teiman. The group came under scrutiny after footage emerged showing suspected abuse of a Palestinian detainee. The leak of that footage, believed to have originated under the direction of Tomer-Yerushalmi, sparked public uproar and criminal investigations.
Police and law enforcement sources suspect the leak was coordinated via a WhatsApp group of senior officers within the Military Advocate General’s Office, with Tomer-Yerushalmi allegedly at the helm. The investigation now includes allegations that those involved not only distributed classified material, but also interfered with a related criminal probe and submitted false affidavits to the High Court.
Tomer-Yerushalmi, currently in custody, is expected to face further questioning. Police are planning to confront her with her former spokesperson, a junior officer who confessed to sending the footage after undergoing a polygraph test with inconclusive results. Investigators believe the phone may contain crucial evidence linking other senior officials to the leak.
“If the device isn’t recovered, it will be harder to identify suspects whose names haven’t yet surfaced in intercepted communications,” a law enforcement source said. However, even without the physical phone, authorities may seek access to Tomer-Yerushalmi’s messaging and email accounts via her passwords.
Speaking from the scene, Nahum said, “We came here to help. Everyone in our group has served in the army. We want justice for the soldiers and the truth to come out.” As they concluded their search, the group chanted: “Justice for Force 100!”