Police increasingly believe that Mali and Liel Yahalomi did not disappear spontaneously, but instead carried out an escape plan that had been carefully devised over an extended period of time.
A series of new pieces of evidence uncovered during the investigation, including personal correspondence between the mother and daughter, paints a picture of deliberate, calculated, and precise advance planning.
Investigators now believe that Mali Yahalomi, who had divorced and was facing financial difficulties, wanted to cut ties with her former life and make a fresh start far from Israel. Her daughter Liel was a full partner in the plan.
In one exchange discovered on a phone, the daughter wrote to her mother, "I'll go with you anywhere." This statement strengthened investigators' conclusion that Liel knew about the plan in advance and voluntarily chose to join her mother.
Investigators also examined possible criminal and family-related explanations, but found no indications of domestic violence or unusual debts. Investigators concluded that the mother and daughter had led normative lives and that their disappearance was not prompted by an immediate threat, but by a conscious decision to leave everything behind.
One finding that strengthened this assessment was the withdrawal of approximately 50,000 shekels from Mali's account shortly before leaving Israel.
"Mali simply wanted to disappear from the world," a senior official familiar with the investigation said.
Investigators believe the two prepared extensively for their journey, deleting applications and information from their mobile devices, using artificial intelligence to learn about ways to evade detection, and taking steps to make attempts to locate them more difficult. According to the assessment, Mali may even have made preliminary trips abroad to familiarize herself with the route and prepare for the plan.
When information was received indicating that the two were making their way to Argentina, Walter Kogan, Israel Police's representative in South America, was dispatched. He located the bus on which they were traveling shortly before they were due to continue to another destination in South America, the location of which remains under a gag order.
During questioning, the two said that they had left Israel for personal reasons and did not wish to disclose the circumstances behind their decision.
Police emphasized that the entire operation to locate the two was carried out through police cooperation, without the involvement of other security agencies.
According to an official familiar with the case, the delay in locating the two was not the result of a failure, but an operational decision.
"We followed them throughout the entire journey and waited for the right moment to complete the operation without exposing the parties who assisted us in Europe," the source explained. "There was no concern for their lives - we waited for the appropriate time to close the circle."