Mobilization of Jews and tourists, and brother Ronen's fears: a week without a sign of life from Meli and Liel
The mother and daughter from the Yahalomi family disappeared on Saturday after checking out of the apartment hotel. Police: "So far we have not found signs that they are still in the city." Brother Ronen set up a one-man war room in the Austrian capital: "Many people are throwing all sorts of things into the air. Let's wait." President of the Jewish community in Austria, Oskar Deutsch: "I don't know them personally, neither do the other members of the community, but we are one people, all of Israel is responsible for one another."
Ronen Yahalomi, Meli's brother, does not leave his phone for a moment. He speaks with family members and friends from Israel, with police and embassy officials, with Israelis and Austrians, with Israeli and local media.
By training, he comes from the film industry, but no one prepared him for the movie his family has been caught in. Yesterday, Thursday, when we met, he was very worried, troubled, but also focused. He came to Vienna to find his sister and his niece. He is the family's envoy to Austria, he is the one representing his brothers and sisters, his mother, his nephews and his children, the family's friends and acquaintances, and it was very important for him to say that beyond the various speculations and rumors — there is a family here that is deeply worried.
Meli Yahalomi just celebrated her 50th birthday less than two weeks ago. She recently became a grandmother and was caring for her 78-year-old mother. Ronen (55) does not understand where all the rumors are coming from and begs people to relate only to official information.
He also reminds that beyond all the speculations, one thing is very clear: there are two Israeli women here who have disappeared as if the earth swallowed them — and now efforts must be focused and they must be found as soon as possible. "I believe Meli is limited in making contact, I don't believe that if she had seen everything being reported, she wouldn't have made a phone call or passed a message that everything is fine with her," he said, while managing an improvised one-man family war room from his rented apartment located in one of the city's neighborhoods far from the city center.
"The story is puzzling, I understand. But at the same time, as a person whose sister and niece are missing, I ask that no direction of investigation be ruled out. Regarding speculations and rumors, I have no ability to address every rumor, to refute and contradict, many people are throwing all sorts of things into the air. Let's wait, don't judge so quickly, refrain from adopting rumors as truth and focus on what official sources are saying."
Our partners in Vienna
And indeed, a week after the last tangible sign of life from them, the disappearance case of Meli and Liel Yahalomi brings with it many unresolved questions, many speculations, but very few answers, and a lot of uncertainty.
Unlike many European cities, in Vienna you can hear loud Hebrew in every corner. This is not only because the Beitar Jerusalem group arrived for a soccer match against a local rival, but also because there is a strong, present, and visible Jewish community in the city.
About 8,000 Jews live in Vienna, a city considered safe. The city's Jews are divided into many communities and one can find secular and religious, ultra-Orthodox and traditional, former Israelis and many Israeli tourists, Jews who wear a kippah and tzitzit on the street and feel safe.
On the city streets there are Israeli businesses that do not "hide." There are restaurants, street food, and food stores with signs in Hebrew, synagogues and educational institutions, Chabad houses. It is also one of the only cities in Europe that has an "eruv" that allows carrying objects on Shabbat without violating it. Therefore, it is not surprising that Israeli tourists who observe tradition, like Meli and Liel, would choose to spend Shabbat there.
But in the surreal story of their disappearance, even the choices they made during the visit became big question marks. The apartment hotel they chose is located on a side street, 3.3 km away from the Chabad house, about a 50-minute walk. The fact that they had to check out during Shabbat in one of the hottest summers the city of Vienna has known also raises questions — Shabbat ends late in Vienna, walking around with suitcases during Shabbat in a relatively side area in an unfamiliar city is not a particularly comfortable situation.
This adds to other questions that arise in light of reports about the deletion of digital data and the opening of a police investigation in the Lahav 433 unit. The rumors that led to a drop in the shares of Bank Jerusalem, the bank where Meli Yahalomi holds a managerial position, did not help the situation either.
But for the Jews of Vienna, the rumors are less interesting. That is, they know the rumors and do not close their ears, but from their point of view, what is important right now is to find the women as soon as possible. "We don't relate to such or other rumors, that's not the point right now from our perspective, we are interested in them being found first of all healthy and whole," says Oskar Deutsch, president of the Jewish community in Austria.
"Don't know them, but we are one people"
According to him, "we are a small community that is very connected to Israel. Our home is here but our spiritual home is in Israel and we support the people in Israel. When something like this happens, that a mother and daughter from Israel are missing, especially against the background that they came for a vacation and arrived in Vienna and it is unknown where they are for about a week, we believe that our mission is to help find them. I really hope they are okay. True, I don't know them personally, the rest of the community members don't know them either, but our connection as a community to people from Israel is very strong. We are one people. It is normal for us to help, all of Israel is responsible for one another."
The Vienna Jewish community numbers about 8,000 people and its mobilization is impressive. Deutsch and the professional staff in the community mediated the unusual situation to the Austrian media, after they reacted slowly to the situation.
The discourse with the media helped that yesterday morning the most popular newspaper in Austria published the pictures of Meli and Liel on the front page. The community also distributed the pictures of the two by all public means at its disposal, and called on all members of the Jewish community to be vigilant and make contact if one of the community members thinks they recognize them.
The community also maintains constant contact with Ambassador David Roet and the embassy staff who are working around the clock and with great readiness to assist in the searches and locating any detail that can clarify the situation.
Israelis who came for a trip are joining the searches
Also in the Chabad community, they report an extraordinary mobilization from young Jews and Israelis living in the city, and even Israelis who came to travel and offer to help in the searches. According to Rabbi Reuven Timsit, one of the Chabad emissaries in the city, Israelis who arrived at the Chabad house offered to go out to the streets with the pictures of Meli and Liel, and expressed willingness to help in any way possible.
In Chabad, they did not meet Meli and Liel, they did not come to the Chabad house to eat on Friday night and on Shabbat, and also did not make contact before their arrival in the city, or during their stay in it. "We see that Austrian Jews who don't know Meli and Liel at all are really worried. They are taking actions to find the missing persons and have really taken the issue to heart. Business owners in the city are checking security cameras, sharing information, asking customers if they saw them. Many Austrian Jews are checking individually how they can assist in locating Liel and Meli. There are Israelis here who came for a trip and the center of their trip has turned into a mobilization to find them, they are really coming to us and asking how it is possible to help. They prefer to see how it is possible to assist in finding them than to go to museums and other activities."
Timsit (29) has served as one of the Chabad emissaries in the city for about two years. He operates from "Beit HaLevi," a Jewish campus that includes a synagogue, classrooms, and they even hold a summer camp there. He describes a mobilization and concern that come from the entire community and expresses hope that in Israel too we will know how to unite and maintain solidarity, "the mobilization, the concern and the desire to help Meli, Liel and their family is very moving. In the end, the people of Israel is one body, if one hand is lost, the body acts together to find it."
No indications of crime, all investigation directions are being checked
In the city center, opposite the Austrian Stock Exchange, is the central police station in the city. Every day the Austrian police receive a report about about 30 missing persons. Between the years 2016-2022, a report was received about between 10,000-12,000 missing persons.
The Vienna police are already experienced in locating missing persons and act according to a known protocol. After collecting the first details, such as the identity of the missing, an up-to-date picture, and questioning the closest circle, a risk assessment is carried out and if there is a suspicion of kidnapping, a serious accident, a terrorist event or a serious criminal event, and in general if it is a life-threatening situation. In cases where there is involvement of international citizens, as in the current case, coordination is carried out with Interpol, Europol, and the police in the countries from which the citizens come.
The Austrian police also acted from the moment the complaint about the disappearance was received, "we received the complaint from the Israeli embassy on Monday, the tenth of August, and immediately activated the protocol for searching for missing persons," says the police spokesperson in Vienna, Philipp Hasslinger, in an exclusive interview for "HaYom": "Even now the investigation efforts are continuing, although it is important to say, so far no clue has been found that could lead to a terrorist event or a criminal crime against Liel and Meli Yahalomi. Of course, it is important to emphasize that we are not ruling out any scenario, and are continuing to check all possible investigation directions."
We are sitting opposite the police building on Schottenring street, one of the most beautiful boulevards in the city, and Hasslinger explains that disappearance events in Austria are not a rare thing, although they are well aware of the disappearance event and are working in diverse cooperation to examine where the missing persons are.
Hasslinger explains that he cannot detail investigation matters that are currently being conducted, but notes that the police are investigating the issue seriously, "we are experienced in locating missing persons. This is a big city, every day we receive reports about missing persons and we went out immediately for a series of checks required in such a case. We are in close contact with the Israeli police forces and with the embassy, the cooperation is excellent and we are working together to understand what exactly happened with the two missing Israeli women. We don't know what led to their disappearance, that is, what the motive is, and we also don't know if they are staying here in Vienna. So far we have not found signs that they are still in the city. But as mentioned, efforts are constantly being made to locate them."
Also in the local media they are trying to understand where Meli and Liel Yahalomi are, however the media is dealing with the issue in a measured way. The faces of the Yahalomi family members have become familiar, but not to that extent, "I haven't heard about this case," explained to me a tenant who arrived with his baby son to his home, which is located inside the apartment campus where the apartments of the company URNANAUTS STUDIOS are located.
In one of those apartments the two stayed in the last day, before they disappeared. In the apartment campus there are 42 apartments in the front part, and in the back part there are dozens of additional apartments where families and permanent residents live.
"We are operating a hotline and calling on people to call if they think they see them," says the president of the Jewish community Oskar Deutsch, "we even received a call from a person who thought he saw them. Of course we informed the embassy and the police, but in the end, to our regret, they were not found. We very much hope that we will succeed in finding them soon," he concludes.
To these words also joins Ronen Yahalomi, "only ten days ago we celebrated 50 for Meli, we were there all the brothers, the nephews, her friends, this situation is completely detached from reality. Every day that passes distances us a little more from the ability to control this event, but we are doing everything possible to bring them home. I very much hope that Meli and Liel will be found quickly and return to us safely and we will be able to reunite again as a family."
