ABSTRACT

The family of Haymanot Kasau, a girl who disappeared from an absorption center in Safed more than 900 days ago, has renewed its demand that Israel's Shin Bet security agency take over the investigation into her disappearance, following the swift recovery of Mali and Liel Yahalomi, who were found in Argentina roughly one week after vanishing in Vienna.

The Jerusalem Post

Family of missing Israeli girl Haymanot Kasau demands Shin Bet take over investigation after Yahalomi case resolved

Aug 16, 2026, 5:23 AM

Context

Israel Police announced on Friday night that Mali and Liel Yahalomi had been located on a bus in Argentina, safe and well, after an extensive search involving Lahav 433, the Intelligence Division, Europol, and other international law enforcement bodies. Police said they questioned the two women, who stated they had left of their own free will, and released them without opening a criminal investigation.

Details that emerged after the women were found indicated they had planned their disappearance in advance but had not anticipated law enforcement's ability to trace digital footprints across multiple countries. A police source told the Israeli outlet Maariv that officers had said from the outset there was likely no criminal or terrorist incident involved.

Haymanot Kasau disappeared from the Safed absorption center more than 900 days ago. Her family has long demanded Shin Bet involvement, citing what they describe as a lack of leads and inadequate updates from police. On Wednesday, family members and campaign activists demonstrated near Shin Bet offices in Tel Aviv, calling on Shin Bet chief David Zini to make the agency's intelligence capabilities available to the case.

During that protest, Haymanot's father, Tesfaye Kasau, read a personal letter he had written to Zini in Amharic, which was then read in Hebrew. The family has also pointed to Shin Bet involvement in other cases — including organized crime, weapons trafficking in Arab society, and the search for child Yuval Kogan — as precedent for the agency's participation in locating Haymanot.

All Perspectives

Haymanot Kasau's parents (Benchi and Tesfaye Kasau): The parents said that alongside their joy at the Yahalomi case ending safely, they could not help but compare the efforts invested in that search with the handling of their daughter's case. In a statement they said: 'Our Haymanot has not been with us for 902 days. 902 days have passed since our little daughter was abducted.' They added: 'Israel Police, under the direction of Inspector-General Danny Levy, used all of its capabilities to find Mali and Liel, but what have they done for our Haymanot? Lahav 433 has investigated half the world to find them, and they still don't meet with us or update us properly.' Tesfaye Kasau also raised a discrimination allegation in his letter to Zini: 'I am doing everything in my power to stop myself from thinking that it has to do with color, but it is very difficult not to think about how things would have looked different if we looked different. If she were blonde, would her life matter more? If she were not a new immigrant, Ethiopian, would you already be helping us? Prove to us that this is not the case.'

Haymanot Kasau campaign headquarters: A statement from the campaign said: 'With the mother and daughter having been found and Israel Police succeeding in solving the investigation, its helplessness in investigating Haymanot's abduction stands out even more, and therefore the family is demanding that the investigation be transferred to the Shin Bet.'

Israel Police: Police stated that they had operated 'in recent days in an extensive and focused effort to locate the missing women,' running command centers in Israel and abroad around the clock at the direction of Police Commissioner Inspector-General Danny Levy, with Lahav 433 and the Intelligence Division leading the effort. They said 'all necessary means and resources were allocated to the searches, hundreds of investigative actions were carried out, and cooperation took place with Europol and other police organizations around the world.' A police source told Maariv: 'From the outset, we said that there apparently was no criminal incident or terrorist incident here, and that the mother and daughter had most likely left the room of their own free will. After a brief questioning, and once we understood that there was no criminal or other motive, they were released. There is no suspicion that they committed an offense.'

Position not represented in the source reporting: Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) — its position on the family's demand for involvement in the Haymanot Kasau case is not stated; Lahav 433 head Commissioner Meni Binyamin — named by the family as having failed to find leads, but his response or the unit's account of the Kasau investigation is not included.

Gaps & Unknowns

The source does not state whether Israel Police or Shin Bet has responded to the family's renewed demand to transfer the Haymanot Kasau investigation.
The source does not state the specific date or circumstances of Haymanot Kasau's disappearance from the Safed absorption center.
The source does not state Haymanot Kasau's current age; it notes she was 9 years old at the time of her disappearance.
The source does not state whether Shin Bet chief David Zini responded to Tesfaye Kasau's letter or to the Wednesday demonstration outside Shin Bet offices.
The source does not state what investigative steps Israel Police have taken in the Haymanot Kasau case or what the current status of that investigation is beyond the family's characterization of it.
The source does not reconcile the two spellings used for the family name — Kasau in most instances and Kassau in a photo caption.

Sources & Further Reading

The Jerusalem Post — original

Read the original at The Jerusalem Post

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