Israeli Journalist's Toyota Stolen Twice — and Recovered by Ituran Both Times

Veteran Israeli journalist Nahama Douek experienced an unusual and unsettling ordeal after her Toyota Corolla was stolen twice in just over a year — and recovered on both occasions through rapid cooperation between Israel's Ituran vehicle-recovery system and police forces.

The first theft occurred in June 2025, when Douek discovered that her vehicle had been stolen from a street in Tel Aviv.

She immediately notified Ituran, whose operational enforcement teams began tracking the vehicle. The car was subsequently located traveling on Highway 1, with the suspected thief inside.

Information from Ituran was transferred to the police, who intercepted the vehicle and arrested the suspect.

Stolen Again More Than a Year Later

The second incident occurred at the end of August 2026, when Douek was abroad.

This time, Ituran detected suspicious movement involving the same Toyota Corolla and contacted her to inform her that the vehicle was traveling along Highway 443.

Ituran's operational team tracked the vehicle as it moved toward the area of the Rantis checkpoint, near the West Bank.

The vehicle was located only minutes before it was expected to enter the West Bank.

Police stopped the car and arrested a suspect who was inside. An indictment was subsequently filed against him, according to the report published by Israel Hayom.

The Same Car, the Same Area — Twice

The unusual aspect of the case is not simply that Douek's vehicle was stolen twice.

According to the report, both thefts involved the same vehicle and occurred from the same street, more than a year apart.

In both cases, the combination of an active vehicle-location system and rapid cooperation between Ituran's enforcement personnel and the police resulted in the vehicle being recovered before it disappeared into areas where recovery could have become considerably more difficult.

The case illustrates the potential importance of real-time vehicle tracking in combating organized vehicle theft.

"An Unusual Case"

Eyal Saar, head of Ituran's operational division, described the incident as highly unusual.

"This is an unusual case in which the same vehicle was stolen twice. In both cases, the rapid cooperation between Ituran's enforcement operation and police forces enabled the vehicle to be located and returned to its owner within a short period of time."

Ituran operates a nationwide control center and an operational enforcement network that works with Israeli security forces and police. The company says its system combines an encrypted vehicle transmitter/receiver with a 24-hour national control center and a field enforcement operation.

Vehicle Theft Remains a Major Challenge

Douek's experience comes against the backdrop of continued vehicle theft in Israel.

According to Ituran data covering the first half of 2026, the Tel Aviv metropolitan area accounted for approximately 40% of reported vehicle theft incidents in the company's sample, followed by the Sharon region with 18%. The company's research also identified several routes toward Palestinian areas as significant destinations for stolen vehicles.

Ituran's data indicate that vehicle thieves continue to operate despite increased enforcement and Israel's broader security challenges.

A Remarkable Outcome

For Douek, the story has an almost improbable twist.

Her Toyota Corolla was stolen once, recovered and returned.

More than a year later, the same vehicle was stolen again — this time while its owner was thousands of kilometers away — and was once again located before the thieves could take it across the checkpoint.

The two incidents highlight both the persistence of Israel's vehicle-theft problem and the potential value of rapid location technology and coordinated law enforcement.

One car. Two thefts. Two recoveries — and, on both occasions, the thieves failed to get away with it.