SAFED — Yeros Kasau, 19, received the National Service Excellence Award for volunteer service with Ha'aguda L'hitndavut in June 2026. President Isaac Herzog attended the award ceremony at the President's Residence, where Ha'aguda L'hitndavut designated Kasau as one of 29 outstanding presidential volunteers of 2026.

The event occurred approximately two and a half years after Yeros Kasau's sister, Haymanut, went missing in Safed. Haymanut was last seen in an office at a Safed absorption center approximately 850 days before June 2026. President Herzog met privately with members of the Kasau family and expressed support regarding the ongoing case.

Authorities launched an advertising campaign featuring billboards to raise awareness about Haymanut. The Ministry of Immigration and Absorption plans to implement a digital awareness campaign in June 2026. The Jewish Agency offered a cash reward of 150,000 shekels for information leading to Haymanut, and the Kasau family pledged an additional 850,000 shekels for the same.

Israeli Police are investigating potential connections to Ethiopia in Haymanut's case. Gilad Kariv, head of the Aliyah, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs Committee, requested that Chief Inspector Sarit Elisha Al-Ami reclassify the case from a missing person to an abduction. Al-Ami stated, "The classification of the case has no impact on the operations being carried out."

Tesfaye Kasau, father of Haymanut, rejected the assertion that case classification does not affect investigative operations. He threatened to sue the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, stating, "You are doing nothing." He also noted, "It's been two and a half years since my daughter disappeared, but I am very grateful to all the partners who are leading the publicity campaign. There needs to be a combination of all the relevant government bodies and security agencies, including the Shin Bet, in order to succeed and find my daughter."

The Kasau family denied that police reported substantive progress in the investigation and reported learning of the police announcement through media rather than official channels. A Kasau family representative stated, "This is a cynical and outrageous exploitation of the family's pain. It is astonishing to discover time and again that the police operate with creativity and efficiency when dealing with the media, but when faced with a lead in the disappearance of a nine-year-old girl, they hit a total dead end. If there is a real development, why is the family hearing about it from the media?" The representative further stated, "This conduct proves definitively that Israeli police have thrown up their hands and are managing a media damage-control battle instead of a real investigation. We demand an immediate end to these PR stunts." The representative also stated, "The only way to achieve a breakthrough is the immediate establishment of a joint Special Investigative Team that includes Shin Bet elements. Only a combination of the technological and intelligence capabilities of the Israel Security Agency can solve this mystery and bring Haymanut home."