Nearly one year and ten months after 8-year-old Haimanot Kassou disappeared from an immigrant absorption center in Safed, Knesset members Yitzhak Kroizer, Tsega Melaku, Naor Shiri and Tzvika Fogel arrived in the city on Sunday.
They joined her family, volunteers and Israel police forces in a special day of searches for any clue that might lead to information about her. For hours, search teams spread out around the absorption center where she lived, the area near the local hospital and the ancient cemetery, but nothing was found.
Before setting out, Haimanot’s parents and relatives spoke of their desperation over the unanswered question: where is the little girl? “Help us find Haimanot,” her mother, Belchau Kassou, said through tears. “I hear her all the time shouting to me, ‘Mom, save me. I’m crying.’ I tell her we are looking for her and that we have not forgotten her for a moment. We don’t know Hebrew. We are alone.”
Her father, Tafsai Kassou, said police and security agencies — and primarily the government — could do more to locate his daughter. “I’m asking the government and the Knesset to cooperate and bring in the Shin Bet, to use every tool possible. We know Israel is strong in search operations and has advanced technology,” he said.
“My daughter is not missing. She was kidnapped. A year and ten months is a long time. We cannot endure this anymore and we wait every day for her to come home. We want an answer about where she is right now. Is she eating, drinking and sleeping? Who is taking care of her? I am asking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intervene, to come and say they are ready to help us in every way. She is not only my daughter. She is theirs too. She is an Israeli. Please help us.”
Eden, sister of Belchau and aunt of Haimanot, added, “I don’t know if it is because of our skin color, but we want to understand. Until now we have received no answer. We feel the state is not listening to us. We are new immigrants and we don’t understand Hebrew and cannot explain our pain. Haimanot did not disappear from a private home but from an absorption center that is under the responsibility of the Jewish Agency.”
The searches included police units involved in the investigation, mounted officers and volunteers from the Israel Dog Handlers Unit, who brought drones and specialized equipment. Dozens of teenagers from Acre, members of OU Israel’s youth centers, also joined the effort. Haim Plesner, the organization’s deputy director general, said, “We are proud to see our youth taking responsibility for their community and for Israeli society and stepping up for national missions at this critical moment.”