A week after her family protested in the Knesset: the police and the Israel Council conducted a one-day search for Heimnot Kassau

4 months after the disappearance of the girl Heimnot Kassau, and a week after her family accepted in the Knesset that the search be stopped – the police and the canine unit (Yachal) conducted a search day for her today (Wednesday). This is the first significant search since the civil search day held by various activists and associations in mid-April.

About 20 policemen, horsemen and police dogs participated in the searches today, along with the ICL volunteers. They focused on the streets around the reception center, and on the construction below it (shelters, sewage systems, etc.), as well as in the lemon grove near the city’s Mushara neighborhood.

“We are already 4 months into the disappearance of Heimnot Kassau,” said Mike Ben Yaakov, the commander of the Israeli Chamber of Commerce, during the day of the search. To help us focus our searches. We are at a loss, but we must not despair – and call on the public for help.”

The police said that the day of searches is part of a search routine, and that although the investigation has not yet led to arrests or finding a lead, efforts to find Cassau continue. However, the police said this morning that no reliable information has been received so far that might help in the investigation, and those who have contacted so far are mainly mystics of various kinds.

Last week, the Safed police claimed, at the hearing of the Aliya and Absorption Committee, that there is a difficulty in activating volunteers to search for Haymanot due to the fighting situation, and they directed accusations at the Ethiopian community that did not mobilize for the important cause. On top of that, as reported in ‘Davar’, the Jewish Agency and the family increased the reward amount for those who bring information about Haymanut from 100 thousand NIS to 350 thousand NIS.

In the last civilian search day, held as mentioned in April, many dozens of searchers participated. “I found myself reaching for the darkest thoughts possible, from people to wild animals,” Sofi Elimelech, a prominent network anchor who came to the search, told Davar at the time, “For every smell in the air I said – maybe it’s her, and for every discarded piece of paper I thought – maybe It’s a shirt. How come they didn’t put a stop to Safed? Why didn’t they bring up the cameras?

“Hold on to the faith Heimnut” Elimelech then added, “to hold on to the faith is to hold on to the good, without thinking about the bad. But how is it possible? This is where faith is measured.”