"I am happy that Yuval returned, and that his family was spared many more tears. But the gap from Haymonot breaks my heart"

882 days after his daughter Haymonot Kasau disappeared from the absorption center in Safed, Tesfaye Kasau recounted with pain today (Sunday) how the rapid location of 4-year-old Yuval Kogan only strengthened his feeling that the State of Israel could have done much more for his daughter as well.

"I am first of all happy and excited that Yuval was found quickly, and that his family was spared many more tears," he said. "But the gap breaks my heart. All the organization around his disappearance, the entire system that mobilized to search and find him, only highlights what was not there for Haymonot."

According to him, for two and a half years his family has been repeating the same demand over and over: to activate all the capabilities available to the state to locate their daughter. "We have been saying for two and a half years that the state has high technological capabilities to find any person. We went out to protests, met with people, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and asked them to activate these capabilities. None of that happened, and our girl is still not with us," he added.

Kasau claimed that the difference between the two cases also stems from discriminatory treatment towards his family. "I have no doubt at all that it is based on a racist position," he said. "We are new immigrants, we don't speak Hebrew, we are not strong, we have no connections and we have no money. In contrast, this child came from a family that knew how to mobilize all the resources, connections and forces, and they found him within about 24 hours. It only highlighted what we always felt - that it is related to the fact that we are Ethiopians and don't speak Hebrew."

At the heart of the family's claims is also the fact that the Shin Bet did not join the investigation. "In Yuval's story, both the Shin Bet and Aman were in the picture. In our case, the Shin Bet did not enter at all. If they had been involved, we would have known," he added. He also noted that although the Attorney General had already approved in January the possibility of involving the Shin Bet in the investigation of Haymonot's disappearance, it did not come to fruition.

"They told us that there is no suspicion of a nationalistic background and therefore the Shin Bet did not enter," he explained. "However, from the point of view of people who understand the security field, the very fact that Haymonot was taken from a public institution of the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration is sufficient grounds for the Shin Bet to enter the picture. This is an injury to the entity of the state."

The meeting the family held with the Prime Minister, according to him, also did not lead to progress. "He told us that he would check the issue and return to us with an answer. Since then we have not heard from him," he described.

The father also directed harsh criticism at the police's conduct: "I don't even know where things stand today. At Lahav 433 they don't answer my phone calls. In the Safed police they didn't do what they should have done. Even when we brought them information, they didn't really check it. Only after Knesset members raised the issue in a Knesset committee, did they go to check."

He emphasized that he has no complaints against the public: "My anger is at the state, at the government and at the authorities, not at the citizens. The citizens are the ones who show us the way in the dark. They help us, walk with us, strengthen us. I see on their faces that their hearts break when they see me."

He called on the public to continue and fight together with the family: "Stand by our side and help us call on the state to bring the Shin Bet into Haymonot's file. I ask that they influence the government to do this. I believe the girl was kidnapped, that she was taken and is in the hands of people. She must be searched for with all means."

He finds it difficult to describe the family's life since his daughter disappeared: "It is impossible to even express in words how it feels when your child is taken from you and you don't know where they are. You can't sleep, you can't eat, you can't speak. I know that is what Yuval's parents felt while he was missing. But for us, it has been going on for 882 days. I feel like I am between life and death. Even my small children are constantly asking why she was taken and where she is. When I walk in the street and see little girls her age, I am constantly looking. Constantly thinking that maybe I will find her. I don't wish this experience on anyone."

In conclusion he said: "This state belongs to all of us. It is a state of all Jews, regardless of our skin color. I expect the public to demand from the state the same treatment for Haymonot. There is no essential difference between them. We are all citizens of the same state."