Today marks exactly one year since the disappearance of Haymanot Kasau, an Ethiopian-Israeli girl. Then nine years old, she was last seen on the streets of Safed. She emigrated with her family from Ethiopia to Israel and lived in the absorption center in the northern city.
On Sunday, February 25, 2024, Haymanot went on an annual school trip and returned home around 4:00 p.m. After that, she went to an activity at the absorption center and then continued to play with her friends.
She was last seen on a security camera at the entrance to the reception center at 7 p.m. wearing a pink sweatshirt with a black skirt over it and white sneakers.
Since then, there have been ad campaigns, search days, Knesset committee meetings, and private investigations but there is still no sign of her.
Last August, Haymanot’s father, Tesfaye Kasau, told the Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee that a friend of his daughter had been a witness to the kidnapping. “A friend of Haymanot gave an accurate description of a man with sidelocks who grabbed Haymanot, put her on his back, and ran away. The same person tried to grab Haymanot’s friend as well, but she ran away in time. The girl gave this testimony to the police and her teacher,” he said.
However, the police denied such claims. Israel has been through a lot in the past year, and many of the emotions Israel’s citizens have gone through have left many exhausted and traumatized by over 16 months of war. But there is still a little girl who was snatched off the streets of Israel, and nobody has seen her since.
Israelis cannot just come together when our country is under attack. We need to be able to look ourselves in the eyes and say we did everything we possibly could to find Haymanot and bring her home. The trauma of the family, the disappearance of their then nine-year-old girl, is incommunicable.
Earlier this month, Tesfaye repeated his claims, stating “There is intelligence information that our family is passing on to the police, but they are checking it after a significant delay,” he told the committee. “Changing her status from missing to kidnapped would expand the resources police could dedicate to finding Haymanot,” her father said.
Police officers unable to recover information
Police representatives assured the committee that all information related to the case is examined and that the police consider the case a top priority. According to police, 60-70 actions related to the search have been taken in the past two months. Unfortunately, they have not turned up the information.
The representatives emphasized efforts being made to work with the Kasau family, saying that an officer who speaks Amharic has been attached to the family to translate for them. “We are working with the necessary empathy with the family,” said Superintendent Amir Smaniya, who also said he met with the family last month.
The police have come under much fire during their handling of the investigation, but this is not because they have not tried. In December, the Israel Dog Unit led and supported dozens of volunteers in launching a large-scale search operation in the Upper Galilee to locate Haymanot, as well as four other people reported missing in recent years in the Meron-Safed region.
“Upon receiving the report of Haymanot Kasau’s disappearance, officers of the Israel Police immediately initiated extensive search operations alongside an ongoing investigation, utilizing a variety of investigative methods and tools,” the Israel Police told The Jerusalem Post earlier this week when asked for any updates on the case.
“As is customary, no further details will be provided regarding the ongoing investigation or the specifics of the actions taken,” it said. “However, we emphasize that every lead and piece of information is being thoroughly examined with the full range of resources available to Israel Police in order to locate her.”
Today, a protest rally will be held outside the Knesset at 1 p.m. to mark the anniversary of Haymanot’s disappearance, and it is time for it to be officially recognized as a kidnapping to enable more resources to be devoted to the case.
Even with the war Israelis have gone through, and even with the heartbreaking tragedies of the hostages held captive by Hamas, we cannot forget Haymanot. We must keep doing everything to bring this little girl home.