Nearly two years since young girl Haymanut Kasau was last seen in Safed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said for the first time that he would personally involve himself in the case during a meeting with her family in his office last week.
MK Tsega Melaku (Likud), who initiated the meeting with the prime minister and has been leading efforts to find Kasau, urged that more be done in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
“No one is paying attention to her, not the media, not others,” Melaku explained.
Kasau, nine years old at the time of her disappearance, has been missing since February 2024. Urging further action, her parents have repeatedly said that not nearly enough has been done to find their daughter.
Kasau was last seen near an absorption center in Safed, where she was captured on security camera footage at the center’s entrance. She immigrated to the city with her family from Ethiopia in 2021.
Nearly two years later, in December, the first arrest in connection with Kasau’s disappearance was made. Shortly afterward, however, police cleared the suspect of any involvement in the case.
When asked whether Netanyahu had been involved throughout the nearly two years since Kasau was last seen, Melaku said that he had known about the case and had been receiving updates from her on a constant basis.
“Because of the war, his schedule, his court hearings, it kept getting postponed. But this time, thank God, I succeeded in arranging the meeting," she told the Post.
Melaku elaborated further on the family’s meeting with the prime minister.
“First, the prime minister said that everything the family requested would be examined according to the law,” she said.
“He took her photo, placed it on his desk, and said he personally commits to doing everything possible to find her.”
She added that Netanyahu also asked what else the family needed. The family requested Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) involvement after police had been largely unsuccessful in progressing in the case. According to Melaku, Netanyahu said he would re-examine whether Shin Bet involvement was possible.
Melaku underscored two main points about the case when speaking to the Post.
“I always say, she didn’t run away, she was kidnapped. Someone took her. A nine-year-old girl, in an absorption center, an open place, that is her home. You see her enter, and then she’s gone.”
Kasau’s family has been pushing for the case to be classified as a kidnapping rather than a missing-person case, a change they say would be significant to the investigation. Police have not made such a determination.
The second issue Melaku raised was the lack of publicity surrounding the case.
“As soon as she was kidnapped, it was during the war period, and there was no publicity at all. You didn’t see it opening the news on television. You didn’t see her picture on billboards, bridges, or bus stops, anywhere. Her picture was nowhere to be seen.”
While Melaku acknowledged that the war may explain part of the lack of visibility, she said the family’s background, being new immigrants from Ethiopia, played a significant role.
“Her family are new immigrants. They don’t know Hebrew, they have no money, they don’t have an advocacy headquarters, they don’t have connections,” Melaku explained.
When asked whether Kasau’s case would have been treated differently had she not been from an Ethiopian immigrant family, Melaku said, “There was no doubt” it would.
“If she were a native-born Israeli from central Israel, the news would open with her picture every night.”
Melaku recalled realizing just how little visibility the case had received during a protest she attended, calling for Kasau’s return.
“We once stood at a demonstration near Habima Theatre, the day before the school year started, on August 31,” she said.
“The next day, children were going back to school, though [Kasau’s] school year never did begin,” she noted.
Melaku recalled that those passing by looked at Kasau’s photo and asked, “What is this? What happened?”
“They didn’t even know the case existed,” she said. “That shocked me deeply. It’s unbearable.”
She added that she distributed Kasau’s photo to fellow MKs "so they will remember: there is a kidnapped child, and nobody is talking about her."
“Because yes, there was a war. Afterwards, the entire focus was on bringing hostages home, and thank God, hostages returned, but this girl also needs to be brought home.”
Kasau’s family has called for awareness campaigns similar to those for the hostages kidnapped on October 7, including posters and billboards.
However, Melaku said that nothing was currently being done to advance those efforts, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Aliyah and Integration Ministry and the Jewish Agency.
“The Aliyah and Integration Ministry, the Jewish Agency, said they would promote it. But we don’t see it. Nothing has happened.”
'Anyone with children should be afraid'
Melaku said much more could have been done to prevent a kidnapping, noting that Safed has seen previous disappearances, including that of a 14-year-old haredi (ultra-Orthodox) boy four years ago.
She said there are not nearly enough streetlights or security cameras in the city, adding that "only now" is the municipality attempting to install more lighting.
“People need to understand, this could happen to any family,” Melaku said. “Especially new immigrants. Tomorrow it could happen again. Anyone with children should be afraid.”
Melaku also spoke about Kasau’s family and where they continue to live, frozen in time as they hope for their daughter’s return.
“They are still living in the absorption center, in Safed,” she said.
“In that center, there were only Ethiopian immigrants. Everyone else has moved on to permanent housing. Only this family remains.”
When Melaku asked why they had stayed, Kasau's parents explained their reasoning.
"In case she comes back. If she comes back one day and we’re not here, she won’t find us," they said.