Protest on Ayalon: "Bring the Shin Bet into the investigation of Haymanut Kasau's disappearance"

Dozens of protesters descended this evening (Sunday) onto the Ayalon Highway near the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv, blocked traffic, and called for expanding the investigation into the disappearance of Haymanut Kasau, who vanished 882 days ago from the absorption center in Safed.

Police forces arrived at the scene and cleared the protesters from the road, but Haymanut's family members and protest activists announced that they would continue the protest, demanding that the handling of the case be transferred to the Shin Bet. They claim that the police investigation has exhausted its capabilities and that the state is not doing enough to locate the girl.

Rachel Abata, an activist in the struggle and a relative of Haymanut, told Walla that as far as the family is concerned, this is a continuous failure by the authorities. "Her case is a kidnapping. She is defined as missing, but in fact, she was kidnapped on February 25, 2024, at the absorption center," she said.

According to her, "Right now, the family is asking for the Shin Bet to enter the investigation because they think the police failed. Her file was transferred to Lahav 433, and since then, there has been no word. The father is furious, and there is no one to provide an answer. He knows that only the Shin Bet will help, and he is asking for a new investigation team to be opened."

Abata added that "there is a failure here. A 9-year-old girl was kidnapped, and 14 minutes of the recording were erased. We understand that there is no other way but to block roads and go out to the streets." According to her, the family feels a large gap compared to the treatment of other missing persons cases. "The sweet boy who went missing in Ashkelon, I shared about him non-stop, and within 24 hours the Shin Bet entered the investigation. What about Haymanut? Look at the huge difference when there is an investigation with the Shin Bet inside. We have no updates, we don't know where it stands."

She added: "You see her entering the complex and you don't see her leaving. The police admitted that it was too big for them. Enough, the water has reached the soul. The authorities have abandoned us. We don't know her condition, if she is eating and drinking. Time is not working in her favor."

Father: "The gap between the cases is heartbreaking"

Haymanut's father, Tesfaye Kasau, also addressed the comparison between the investigation into his daughter's case and the search for 4-year-old Yuval Kogan, who was recently found quickly.

"First of all, I am happy and excited that Yuval was found quickly, and that his family was spared many more tears," Kasau told Walla. "But the gap is heartbreaking. All the organization around his disappearance, the entire system that mobilized to search and find him, only highlights what was not there for Haymanut."

According to him, for more than two and a half years, the family has been repeating the same demand: to activate all the capabilities available to the state. "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."

Kasau claimed that alongside the pain, the family also feels a sense of discrimination. "I have no doubt that this is based on a racist position. 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 boy came from a family that knew how to mobilize all the resources, connections, and forces, and they found him within about 24 hours."

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The demand: "Bring the Shin Bet into the file"

One of the family's main demands is to attach the Shin Bet to the investigation. "In Yuval's story, both the Shin Bet and Aman were in the picture. With us, the Shin Bet did not enter at all. If they were involved, we would know," Kasau said.

According to him, the Attorney General already approved in January the possibility of integrating the Shin Bet into the investigation of Haymanut's disappearance, but it has not yet happened. "They told us that there is no suspicion of a nationalistic background, so the Shin Bet did not enter."

Kasau said that security professionals told the family that the very fact that Haymanut disappeared from a public institution of the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration justifies the organization's involvement. "This is an injury to the entity of the state," he said.

He also criticized the police's conduct: "I don't even know where things stand today. At Lahav 433, they don't answer my phone calls. At the police in Safed, they didn't do what they should have done. Even when we brought them information, they didn't really check it."

However, the father asked to emphasize that the anger is directed only at the authorities. "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, march with us, and strengthen us."

"I am between the living and the dead"

Towards the end of his remarks, Kasau described life since his daughter's disappearance. "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." According to him, "I know that this 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 the living and the dead."

He said that his younger children also struggle to cope with the situation: "They are constantly asking why she was taken and where she is. When I walk down the street and see little girls her age, I am constantly looking. Constantly thinking that maybe I will find her."

The family members announced that they would continue the public struggle until the investigation is expanded and, according to them, all possible tools are activated to locate Haymanut Kasau. "I believe the girl was kidnapped, that she was taken and is in the hands of people. She must be searched for by all means," the father said.