The Knesset’s Committee on Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, chaired by MK Gilad Kariv (Labor), convened on Monday for a follow-up discussion on the ongoing search for Hymanut Kassaou, the nine-year-old girl from Tzfat who has been missing for 646 days. This was the twelfth committee session devoted to her disappearance.
The Knesset report on the meeting stated that Hymanut, who immigrated from Ethiopia with her family three years before she vanished, was last seen on February 25, 2024 near her home at an absorption center in Tzfat. She was recorded distributing election flyers - footage that remains the last documentation of her whereabouts.
MK Kariv (The Democrats) noted that both open and confidential hearings have been held and emphasized the committee’s responsibility to ensure that investigative authorities “move forward, even a little,” with every discussion. He referenced police statements from a September hearing, where officials reported forming a new investigative team and intensifying search efforts in the disappearance zone. Kariv also addressed the family’s claim that 14 minutes of video footage showing Hymanut shortly before she disappeared had been deleted. Police responded that the footage had been fully reviewed and that no deletion occurred. He further cited assurances from police headquarters that classifying Hymanut as missing rather than kidnapped has not restricted investigators’ abilities or tools. According to Knesset Research and Information Center data, Israeli police currently track 593 missing-person cases, with roughly 100 new cases opened in the past decade. Hymanut is the youngest among them.
Her father, Kasa Tapsa, expressed deep frustration: “I am tired of talking. There is still no clue as to where my daughter is.” He reiterated the family’s belief that Hymanut was abducted - citing testimony from two children who were with her - and demanded that the case be officially defined as kidnapping. He criticized the lack of answers regarding alleged video edits and called on the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption to launch a nationwide public campaign similar to those organized for hostages in Gaza. “A large percentage of Israelis still does not know my daughter’s name,” he said. Hymanut’s mother, Anetsiahu Kassaou, said the family cannot move forward with their lives until she is found. Her sister, Irosalem, demanded the case be transferred to the ISA, stating that the police “are already hoping for a miracle.”
During the meeting, the family displayed photos of Hymanut captioned in the same way that the photos showing hostages in Gaza had been during the war.
Superintendent Avi Aish, head of investigations in the Northern District, acknowledged: “So far we have failed in our mission to bring the girl home.” He insisted, however, that police have invested extraordinary resources, including the establishment of multiple specialized review teams. He also noted a pending request to install 150 additional security cameras in the Tzfat area.
Several MKs called for heightened involvement of the ISA and more extensive public awareness. MK Benny Gantz (National Unity) said he would personally contact the incoming ISA chief to explore new avenues for action and pointed to the success of the Coordinator for Hostages and Missing Persons established to handle the search for the hostages in Gaza as a model for coordinated, multi-agency work. MK Pnina Tamano-Shata (National Unity) urged greater financial and emotional support for the family, declaring, “It is clear to everyone that the girl was kidnapped,” and criticized gaps in resources allocated for the search.
Last week, an extensive search involving mounted officers, drones, volunteers, and several Knesset members was carried out in the area where Hymanut was last seen, with the participation of the Israel Dog Unit - a nonprofit specializing in working dogs that has been heavily involved in the search from the outset. Israel Dog Unit director Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov, who was present at the meeting, called for the case to be classified as a kidnapping until it could be concretely proven otherwise.
Other MKs - including Tsega Melaku (Likud), Naor Shiri (Yesh Atid), Moshe Solomon (Religious Zionist Party), and Eitan Ginzburg (National Unity) - echoed concerns about insufficient search capabilities, lack of advanced technological tools, the need for increased public visibility, and the urgency of transferring the investigation to the ISA.
At the end of the session, Chairman Kariv announced that the next closed-door meeting will include an ISA representative. While accepting police assertions that the case classification has not hindered the investigation, he nevertheless asked the police to re-evaluate Hymanut’s current status. He also instructed the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption and the Jewish Agency to submit, within seven days, a detailed public-awareness campaign plan to help advance the search for Hymanut Kassaou.