Avichai Kahana, Director General of the Aliyah and Integration Ministry, spoke on Wednesday on radio 103fm of the disappearance of nine-year-old Haymanot Kasau from Safed on Sunday, saying, "We are working very hard…to try to find some kind of clue to understand where Haymanot could be."We are scanning the absorption center and its surrounding area,” he said, referring to where the girl lives.
"All possibilities are being investigated,” he added, “the family has been investigated. According to the information the investigators gave us, the family is a normal family, with no conflict or special problem in the family…The police will ask all the children because children may be able to say something that others don't say. But we don't have any basis for saying that it is someone close and familiar to her.”
Possibility that Kasau may not be in the country
Addressing the possibility that Kasau may no longer be in the country, he said, “There is also the possibility that she is not in Israel. We are not ruling anything out.”
"Haymanot in Amharic means faith, we believe," he concluded.
Kasau was last seen Sunday evening in Safed in Tzahal Street, after which she entered the absorption center and disappeared. Police forces and volunteers have been searching the center and its area, retrieving footage from security cameras and collecting testimonies from witnesses, according to Israeli media.
Kasau's family immigrated to Israel three years ago. She is one of five siblings. Her father is Christian and does not live in Israel, while her mother is Jewish and resides in Safed.