Noa Itiel, a 50-year-old resident of Tel Aviv, found a cell phone on the cliff beach this morning (Friday) where the phone of ousted MP Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi was kept.
Itiel swims every morning at the beach. In an interview with 'Walla', she said: "I was swimming and suddenly I saw a white device on the bottom. I shouted to my friend to come. I dived in and picked it up. When we got to the beach and I clicked on the screen - my jaw dropped. I saw the familiar image from the media.".
She said that already in the water she realized that this was possibly an item of extraordinary importance.
Itiel noted that she did not allow anyone to take the device for her: "Someone came up and said he would hand the device over to the police, but I said I was handing it over myself. I realized that I was holding something unusual. Maybe even something that would affect the entire investigation. It was clear to me that it had to be done right.".
The police confirmed that the device matched the one in Tomer-Yerushalmi's possession, and that it was sent for examination at a forensic laboratory.
In recent days, citizens have come to the beach with metal detectors, diving teams have repeatedly scanned the seabed, and police forces have been deployed along the strip - but without success. It was only this morning, in exceptional sea visibility conditions, that the device was located completely by chance by Itiel.
""I swim here almost every day," she said. "We usually look for sea turtles and fish. Today I found something completely different.".
Itiel added that the moment also touched her on a personal and emotional level: "My entire family has been bereaved since October. Everything connects to me. I felt like I was part of something important, maybe even a fix. What stood out to me was that the truth would come out and that we would be united.".
She told Channel 12: "When I found the phone, it was off. I turned it on to figure out who it belonged to, and that's how I saw the picture of the MP on the lock screen.".
She arrived at the police station to give testimony. She told the police: "I was swimming this morning at the cliff beach, and at a certain point in the shallow water, near the shore, I saw something that looked like a phone. I picked it up and realized it was an iPhone. I immediately got out of the water, opened it and saw a picture of the MP. I reported it to the police, the forces arrived and summoned me to testify." According to her, it was off and she was the one who turned it on.
The investigation into the case is still ongoing. Key questions remain open, including how the device disappeared, whether it was deactivated before being thrown into the sea, and whether there was an attempt to sabotage the investigation.
According to sources familiar with the details, examining the contents of the device - to the extent that they can be reconstructed - may be a crucial step in the further investigation.
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