How does a 9-year-old girl disappear in Israel, and after 900 days there is still no answer? | Orit Taya

900 days of asking where Haimonot is. How much more time must pass until the State of Israel turns over every stone to find her? Today, Wednesday, marks 900 days since the disappearance of Haimonot Kasau. 900 days during which her parents, Tesfaye and Banchi Kasau, have been waiting for their daughter. 900 days during which her sister Yerusalim and her family, together with dedicated activists, refuse to let Haimonot disappear from the public consciousness.

I am strengthening them today, but after 900 days, a hug is no longer enough. We must demand answers. How does a 9-year-old girl disappear in Israel, and after 900 days there is still no answer as to where she is? I do not accept the approach that after so much time, one simply continues with the same tools and hopes for a breakthrough.

We have seen in other cases of missing children that the state knows, when it decides that it is an emergency, how to quickly concentrate forces, technology, intelligence, and the capabilities of several bodies.

So I ask the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir: Have we really turned over every stone in Haimonot's case? And if the answer is yes, turn it over again. Bring in more investigators. Bring fresh eyes to the file. Allocate more resources. Re-examine information and cameras. Activate every technological and intelligence capability that the law allows. And if further involvement of the Shin Bet is required, demand it and act to remove the necessary barriers.

900 days are not a reason to slow down. They are a reason to speed up. And I also have a broader demand: it is time to establish a mandatory national protocol for the disappearance of minors, in which the first hours are defined as a national emergency, with a clear mechanism for activating all the necessary capabilities.

"The struggle for a missing child must not depend on the family's ability to shout loud enough or the amount of coverage it manages to achieve."

I also want to appeal to Ayala Ben Gvir, as a mother to a mother: Ayala, help us keep Haimonot on the table. Ask Itamar to return to this file, to ask the hard questions, and to check what else the state can do.

Not for politics. For one girl who has not yet returned home. And to the Kasau family and all the activists who have been refusing to give up for 900 days, do not stop making her voice heard. We need to make it heard together with you. Haimonot, 900 days have passed. We are not ready for the 1,000th day to arrive.

The author is a public figure, currently serving as the Chief of Staff for the head of the Hevel Modi'in Regional Council. In the past, she served as an advisor to the Minister of National Security.