Nearly two years since the young girl Haymanut Kasau was last seen in Safed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said for the first time last week that he would personally involve himself in the case.
Likud MK Tsega Melaku, who initiated last week’s meeting with the prime minister and has been leading efforts to find Kasau, urged that more be done.
“No one is paying attention to her, not the media, not others,” Melaku said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
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.
The child was last seen near an absorption center in Safed, where she was seen 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 the prime minister had known about the case and had been receiving updates from her on a constant basis.
“Because of the war, his schedule, and his court hearings, [a meeting] kept getting postponed. But this time, thank God, I succeeded in arranging the meeting,” she told the Post.
Regarding that talk, Melaku said that “first, the prime minister said that everything the family requested would be examined according to the law.
“He took Kasau’s photo, placed it on his desk, and said he personally commits to doing everything possible to find her.”
Netanyahu also asked what else the family needed, Melaku said. 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 reexamine 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,” Melaku said. “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.
Another issue Melaku raised was what she called a lack of publicity surrounding the case.
“Kasau was kidnapped during the war, and there was no publicity about it at all. You didn’t see it opening the news on television. You didn’t see her picture anywhere, not on billboards, bridges, or bus stops.”
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 members are new immigrants,” Melaku said. “They don’t know Hebrew, they have no money, they don’t have an advocacy headquarters, they don’t have connections.”
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 have been. “If she were a native-born Israeli from central Israel, the news would open with her picture every night.”
Melaku recalled realizing how little visibility the case had received during a protest she attended, which called for Kasau’s return.
“We once stood at a demonstration near Habima Theatre on the day before the school year started,” she said. “The next day, children were going back to school, though [Kasau’s] school year never did begin.”
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. Then, 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 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.
There are not nearly enough streetlights or security cameras in the northern city, she said further, 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 in terms of how they lead their lives to date. She described this as a family frozen as it waits and hopes for the child’s return.
“They are still living in the absorption center in Safed,” she said. “There were only Ethiopian immigrants living in that center at the time. Everyone has moved on to permanent housing. Only this family remains.”
When Melaku asked why they had stayed, Kasau’s parents told her, “‘In case she comes back. If she comes back one day and we’re not here, she won’t find us.’”