Haimanot Kassau’s Family Demanded Case Be Transferred to Shin Bet — Jerusalem Post
In Jerusalem, Israel, on September 23, the family of Haimanot Kassau held a rally at Paris Square, demanding that the investigation into the girl’s disappearance be transferred to Israel’s Shin Bet security service. According to the Jerusalem Post, the protest took place after the Jerusalem Municipality refused to allow the family to set up a protest tent.
The girl’s disappearance
Haimanot Kassau disappeared on February 25, 2024, at the age of nine from an absorption center in Safed, where she lived with her family. By the time of the rally, 941 days had passed since her disappearance. In his speech, the girl’s father noted that she had already turned 11.
The family repeatedly requested permission to set up a tent near the Supreme Court, close to the Knesset and opposite the prime minister’s residence. The Kassau campaign aims to draw attention to the girl’s disappearance and secure the transfer of the case to Shin Bet.
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The family’s statements regarding the investigation
The girl’s father, Tesfaye Kassau, said that around ten days before the protest, the family had contacted Lahav 433 but received no answers to its questions. He asked whether there were suspects in the case and an established direction of investigation, whether leads in Israel or abroad were being checked, and whether phone geolocation and polygraph tests had been conducted on people who were at the absorption center on the night the child disappeared.
A campaign statement claims that the case was passed among four different bodies, but no leads emerged. Haimanot’s parents also held protests outside the offices of Lahav 433 and a march in Tel Aviv. Shelly Shem Tov, the mother of Omer Shem Tov, a hostage released by Hamas, spoke at the rally and called on the public to support the Kassau family.
