Parents of Missing Haymanot Kassau and ACRI Petition Court Over Protest Tent Ban
Parents of missing girl Haymanot Kassau and ACRI petitioned the Jerusalem District Court after the municipality banned a protest tent near the Prime Minister's Office.
The legal battle surrounding the disappearance of Haymanot Kassau has escalated as her parents and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) filed a petition with the Jerusalem District Court. The legal action follows a decision by the Jerusalem Municipality to reject a request to establish a protest tent near the Prime Minister's Office in the city's government complex.
The family requested permission to set up the tent at the intersection of Zussman and Kaplan streets for a period spanning from September 23 to October 22, 2026. Through the petition, the parents seek to sustain their ongoing public campaign demanding intensified efforts to locate their daughter, who vanished under mysterious circumstances.
Haymanot Kassau disappeared on February 25, 2024, at the age of nine, from an absorption center in Safed where she lived with her family. Despite extensive searches and the transfer of the investigation to the Lahav 433 serious crimes unit, she has not yet been found. Her parents, Tesfya and Banchi Kassau, have since maintained continuous public activism to keep the case in the public eye.
Legal Arguments and Municipal Response
In recent months, the family submitted multiple requests to the Jerusalem Municipality to establish protest tents at various high-profile locations across the city, including near the Supreme Court, outside the Knesset, and opposite the Prime Minister's official residence on Gaza Street. All previous applications were denied by local authorities.
On September 15, ACRI submitted a formal request for the site near the Prime Minister's Office. The municipal legal adviser rejected the application the following day, citing potential sanitation, safety, and accessibility concerns associated with long-term tent setups in public spaces.
"All Haymanot's parents are asking for is to protest in front of decision-makers and demand that efforts to find their daughter do not cease," stated attorneys Oded Feller and Eden Gilad from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
Constitutional Rights vs. Public Order
The petitioners argue that freedom of protest is a fundamental constitutional right and that areas adjacent to centers of government are vital for exercising this freedom. They contend that potential disruption to daily routines is insufficient grounds for suppressing a demonstration and that the municipality's rejection relied on generalized policies rather than concrete safety hazards.
In response, the Jerusalem Municipality stated that the application was evaluated based on the specific characteristics of the site, the proposed duration, and the impact on public accessibility. While expressing deep sympathy for the family's ongoing ordeal, city officials maintained that long-term encampments in major public thoroughfares create unacceptable disruptions.
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