Dozens of people protested outside the Shin Bet headquarters in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to demand that the security agency help find missing child Haymanut Kasau, who vanished at the age of nine from an absorption center in Safed soon after her family immigrated from Ethiopia.

The protest was held on the eve of the 900th day since the girl disappeared in February 2024.

In February this year, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara approved the Shin Bet’s involvement in the investigation, but the girl’s family said the intelligence agency has failed to act.

Protesters chanted “justice for Haymanut,” “Haymanut is a hostage,” and “Where is the Shin Bet?” and hoisted signs reading: “Mom and dad are doing everything.”

In a letter to Shin Bet chief David Zini, Haymanut’s father Tesfai said it was hard not to think that the security agency has ignored his daughter’s plight due to the color of her skin.

“I’m stopping myself, with all my strength, from thinking it has to do with color. But it’s very hard not to think things would look different if we looked different,” said the letter, which the father read in the original Amharic, followed by a Hebrew translation read by a supporter.

אמה של היימנוט בהפגנה ליד מטה שבכ – חוסמים את הצומת pic.twitter.com/tZkKjHa3ME — לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) August 12, 2026

אמה של היימנוט בהפגנה ליד מטה שבכ – חוסמים........

© The Times of Israel