Dramatic reports Wednesday morning that two Israeli women were under arrest in Africa have been revealed as a case of mistaken identity. According to new testimony from the local police station, the two women being held are not the Israelis at all, but Iranian nationals carrying forged Israeli passports, Mako reported.
The incident, which began with reports that the two had been detained in the southwestern African nation, took a sharp turn following a visit by the Chabad shaliach in Namibia, Rabbi Yosef Rachimi. The rabbi, who had seen the reports about Israeli women under arrest, rushed to the local police station to provide them with food, water and humanitarian assistance.
"I brought food and water for the mother and daughter, thinking it was Liel and Mali," Rabbi Rachimi recounted in a conversation with Mako. "I arrived at the police station and it turns out it's not them. I saw them physically, it's not them."
According to the rabbi, the initial error stemmed from Namibian authorities identifying the two as Israelis based on the forged identity documents found in their possession.
"I came to visit the two women in the police detention cell," Rachimi added. "It turned out they are two Iranian nationals, a 14-year-old girl and a mother around 40 years old. They didn't know a single word of Hebrew, spoke with me a bit in English and Persian, and it's not Mali and Liel Yehalomi. These are the only two women who were defined by the local police as Israeli citizens, since they were carrying forged Israeli passports."
The local case is now proceeding against the Iranian nationals who were exposed following their use of the forged documents.
