Two years after Haymanut Kasau's disappearance, Shin Bet approved to join search

Family addresses Knesset committee in tears, calling for more efforts to be devoted to case that has seen little progress since Kasau, then 9, vanished in Safed

By Ariela Karmel

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and ToI Staff 25 February 2026, 6:51 pm

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The Shin Bet will begin assisting in the search for Haymanut Kasau, two years after the child went missing at an absorption center in Safed.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara gave her approval for the intelligence agency to join the search for Kasau, who was 9 when she disappeared in the northern city. There has been little to no progress in the case since then.

Kasau’s family, which immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia three years before she went missing, has accused the government of not doing enough to find her. On Wednesday, the anniversary of her disappearance, the Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee held a special session dedicated to her, where lawmakers echoed the family’s calls for more to be done.

Kasau’s parents, who have led the campaign to raise awareness about their daughter, addressed the committee in tears via an Amharic translator,

“My daughter has been kidnapped for two years, and there is no new information about her,” said Kasau’s father, Tesfai. “The tears in our eyes have run dry, and our hearts bleed.”

Kasau 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.

Kasau’s father has called on the government to classify her disappearance as a kidnapping rather than a missing persons case. At the hearing, activists held up signs reading “Bring Haymanut Kasau home,” featuring the yellow ribbon that represented the campaign to free hostages held in Gaza.

Kasau’s father requested that the Shin Bet step in, as it “has more resources and capabilities.” Shortly afterward, Baharav-Miara gave her approval.

Haymanut Kasau, 9, who went missing on February 25, 2024, from a Jewish Agency absorption center in Safed, northern Israel. (Courtesy)

The involvement of the Shin Bet, according to Hebrew media outlets, will allow the intelligence agency to assist the police in conducting inquiries, though police will remain in charge of the case.

In December, the case was transferred to the Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit under the direction of Police Commissioner Danny Levy, in what officials described as an effort to bring “fresh eyes” to the matter.

Her family has long insisted that the circumstances of her disappearance indicate she was kidnapped. However, a police representative at the committee hearing said that the Lahav 433 investigation team is “still in the initial stages of reviewing the material” from the last two years.

In December, Kasau’s family met with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the police. In December, Ben Gvir had indicated that he also supported the Shin Bet getting involved.

“It’s been two years of suffering that cannot be described,” said Kasau’s mother, Benchi, according to Ynet. “Any human being can understand the pain of a parent who does not know where their daughter is.”

MK Gilad Kariv leads an Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on February 25, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Frustration with the case’s stagnation crossed party lines. MK Tzega Melaku, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, expressed disappointment at the hearing that the government has not done more.

“I am ashamed to sit here and ask the Kasau family for forgiveness that we have still not found your daughter,” she said. “I regret that we have still not seen a government-led campaign to raise awareness about Haymanut’s disappearance.”

No other member of the governing coalition had commented on the anniversary as of Wednesday afternoon, nor was it marked by the wider Knesset, although Opposition leader Yair Lapid addressed her case in the Knesset plenum, which included Kasau’s family and other supporters protesting in the gallery.

Lapid declared that the Prime Minister’s Office must directly oversee the investigation.

“When I was Prime Minister, cases of especially serious violence went to the Prime Minister’s Office and we handled them in the cabinet,” Lapid said.

Family members, friends and activists call for justice for missing girl Hymanut Kassou as they mark two years since her disappearance during a protest march in Jerusalem on February 25, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Democrats leader Yair Golan marked the two-year anniversary in a post on X, saying, “Two years of a black hole and an open wound at the heart of Israeli society. Two years in which a little girl, only nine years old, is simply gone.”

He added, “The fact that a child can disappear from an absorption center in the middle of a city in Israel — without a trace — should keep every citizen in this country awake at night, right and left alike.”

Several MKs, including Melaku, joined Kasau’s family and protestors in the Knesset gallery in chanting “Shame” and “Where is Haymanut?”

Last month, Netanyahu met with the Kasau family and said, “I will personally get involved in the matter. We will bring her back.”

By Wednesday afternoon, he had not yet commented on the second anniversary of Kasau’s disappearance.

A protest was also held outside the Aliyah and Integration Ministry in Jerusalem to mark the anniversary and protest the failure to find Kasau, led by various organizations.