Dozens of people protested outside the Shin Bet headquarters in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to demand that the security agency help find missing child Haymanut Kasau, who vanished at the age of nine from an absorption center in Safed soon after her family immigrated from Ethiopia.
The protest was held on the eve of the 900th day since the girl disappeared in February 2024.
In February this year, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara approved the Shin Bet’s involvement in the investigation, but the girl’s family said the intelligence agency has failed to act.
Protesters chanted “justice for Haymanut,” “Haymanut is a hostage,” and “Where is the Shin Bet?” and hoisted signs reading: “Mom and dad are doing everything.”
In a letter to Shin Bet chief David Zini, Haymanut’s father Tesfai said it was hard not to think that the security agency has ignored his daughter’s plight due to the color of her skin.
Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the terms
“I’m stopping myself, with all my strength, from thinking it has to do with color. But it’s very hard not to think things would look different if we looked different,” said the letter, which the father read in the original Amharic, followed by a Hebrew translation read by a supporter.
אמה של היימנוט בהפגנה ליד מטה שבכ – חוסמים את הצומת pic.twitter.com/tZkKjHa3ME
— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) August 12, 2026
“Prove to me I didn’t make a mistake by coming here. As a father to a father, prove to me that the Land of Israel is the safest place for Jews,” Tesfai pleaded.
Haymanut’s mother, Benchi, inquired as to whether the color of her skin was the reason why the Shin Bet didn’t rush to look for her daughter the way it helped in the search for 4-year-old Yuval Kogan, who went missing on a beach in Ashkelon last month and was found safe and sound a day later.
“When I heard Yuval’s story, I was jolted as a mother — I knew what the mother was going through. After 24 hours, when they found him, I calmed down,” said Benchi, in comments translated into Hebrew by a supporter. “On the other hand… the speedy entrance of the Shin Bet stung. It made me wonder whether Haymanut isn’t deserving as well — if color is really playing a part here.”
Haymanut was last seen on February 25, 2024, in Safed on security camera footage at 7:45 p.m., handing out municipal election leaflets with her friends outside the Jewish Agency absorption center, where she had lived since her family arrived in Israel three years prior.
Since then, there have been no leads or progress in determining how she went missing, who was involved, or where she was taken.
Haymanut Kasau, 9, who went missing on February 25, 2024, from a Jewish Agency absorption center in Safed, northern Israel. (Courtesy)
Her family has long insisted that the circumstances of her disappearance indicate she was kidnapped, and her father has called for it to be classified as such, rather than as a missing persons case, while accusing the government of not doing enough to find his daughter.
It was unclear why the Shin Bet has yet to begin working on her case, given that they received the authority to do so months ago.
Several months before the Shin Bet’s involvement was authorized, the case was transferred to the Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit under the direction of Police Commissioner Danny Levy, in what officials described at the time as an effort to bring “fresh eyes” to the matter.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged earlier this year he too would “personally get involved in the matter,” amid opposition calls that the premier’s office directly oversee the investigation.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You’re a dedicated reader
That’s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this