Simcha Goldin's Emotional Interview: "For 6 Years Hadar Has Been Abandoned in Gaza"

While southern Israel faces the threat of incendiary balloons, which have long evolved into explosive ones, and Hamas and Gaza residents receive Qatari funds and other benefits every few months - two Israeli families of fallen soldiers, Sergeant First Class Oron Shaul and Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, who entered Gaza six years ago during Operation Protective Edge, have yet to receive closure. "We realize that Israel has given up," says a pained Simcha Goldin, Hadar's father. "Otherwise, there is no other explanation for the handling and the outcome where my son, sent by the state to fight for it, hasn't received a proper burial."

A Clear Violation of the Ceasefire Cost Us Blood

Hadar Goldin was killed and kidnapped during the Battle of Rafah, one of the highlighted conflicts of Operation Protective Edge. The battle occurred on Friday, August 1, 2014, near Rafah, resulting in the deaths of three soldiers from the Givati Brigade, at least 12 terrorists, and dozens of Palestinian civilians were killed in the counterattack. A ceasefire was supposed to start that day at 8:00 AM for seventy-two hours, initiated by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry. Both Hamas and Israel agreed to the ceasefire, but it was quickly broken by Hamas. A Givati Brigade unit continued operational activities to locate tunnels in the Rafah area. At 9:05, the force was attacked by terrorists who emerged from a tunnel, killing three soldiers: the patrol commander Major Benaya Sarel, Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, and Sergeant Eitan Gidoni. The attackers took Lieutenant Goldin's body with them. The patrol's deputy commander, Second Lieutenant Eitan, pursued the cell into the tunnel, during which items were found that, along with items discovered later by a Sayeret Matkal and Etan Unit team, allowed for the determination of Goldin's death later. According to initial assessment, Goldin was abducted alive, and thus about half an hour after the encounter, the Hannibal Directive was activated to disrupt the escape routes of his captors. The IDF unleashed heavy fire on Rafah from fighter jets, helicopters, artillery, and tanks, killing dozens of Palestinians, including civilians, and causing significant destruction. During the incident, the IDF fired roughly 2,000 missiles, bombs, and shells. According to Palestinians, more than 100 Rafah residents were killed, while the IDF reports 41 Palestinians killed, 12 of whom were terrorists, 13 uninvolved, and the status of the rest unknown.

Hadar Goldin

"The clash was on a Friday," emphasizes Simcha and adds painfully: "In the first few hours after the battle, Hadar was considered missing and captured, but about 38 hours later, on Saturday night, military leadership came to convey the chief military rabbi at the time, Rabbi Rafi Peretz's determination, that Hadar died in the encounter. This is the first time in IDF history that during wartime, a missing soldier's status was changed to fallen. In my understanding, this decision was not innocent at all."

On what basis did they change the decision?

"In the pursuit into the tunnel managed by the force after the terrorists, forensic evidence was found, based on which Hadar's death was determined. According to Jewish law, such findings even required a Jewish burial, and indeed a funeral was held. But my understanding is, the decision was more tainted by politics and pressure than by the desire to help. After 50 days of fighting and 70 dead, it was forbidden to give Hamas a victory image of a top officer from Givati, who is also the cousin of the defense minister, alive – in captivity. I am the cousin of the defense minister at the time, Major General (res.) Moshe Ya'alon. He sat in our home on Saturday night with the government leadership, promising us they would bring Hadar to a Jewish burial, but here we are six years later, and as you see, nothing happens."

In December 2014, about five months after the battle, recordings of the IDF radio network during the battle leaked to the media, revealing the concern of Givati Reconnaissance Unit commander Lt. Colonel Eli Gino about friendly fire: "I repeat, stop the shooting, stop the shooting! You're going to kill each other. Enough, I already have casualties. Wait a moment."

The Army Fired Indiscriminately

In an investigation into the battle's early stages, published about eight months later, Givati Brigade commander Col. Ofer Winter said: "The brigade's strategy considered the entry of the ceasefire, relying on the forces finishing the attack by 8:00 AM, with only after isolating the area would tunneling searches be conducted. Since this wasn't the case, with the ceasefire taking effect, the reconnaissance company's forces entered a territory not captured and in an unsecured zone."

The Goldin family has embarked on an uncompromising struggle. Their fight has crossed Israel and continents around the world. "Our struggle," Simcha explains, "is a fight to change the status quo. We want to put it into decision-makers' consciousness that a battle does not end until all soldiers are returned. It's clear to me that if the IDF wanted to bring Hadar back at the time, they could have achieved it. They just need to make the decision."

Simcha wants to emphasize the broader implications as well: "I'm concerned about the implications," Simcha emphasizes, "beyond the mitzvah of bringing a Jew to a Jewish grave, there's also the moral issue. Every young man entering military service receives the promise upon enlistment that the IDF does not leave its soldiers behind, nor its fallen. This promise must be fulfilled. Hadar didn't disappear. Hadar is just an hour's drive from the Kirya in Tel Aviv, and the Israeli government isn't returning him. I understand from this that the promise made at enlistment isn't genuine. Not just I understand it, but every young person who enters the military service, and it's an irreversible moral damage."

An International Battle Across Nations and Continents

"I want to remind you of the 'heroes' of the story back then, namely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then and now. Benny Gantz, then chief of staff of the operation and now defense minister. Rabbi Rafi Peretz, then chief military rabbi, and now minister for Jerusalem Affairs. My cousin, Moshe Ya'alon, was the defense minister then, and also a year and a half afterward. Naftali Bennet was a regular member of the security cabinet until recently, even took on the role of defense minister. Ayelet Shaked was the justice minister then and has been part of the government since. The common denominator of all of them is that they sent Hadar to battle and have been decision-makers for a long time and have done nothing to bring him to a Jewish burial."

As is known today, Hamas holds two Israeli soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, and two Israeli civilians, Abramen Gistu and Hisham Shaaban al-Sayed, who entered the Gaza Strip on their own due to mental health issues.

Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's

Are you in contact with the other families?

"We are in contact with them, but we have to separate between the civilians and the soldiers. As a family, we reached out to the UN and the US government that guaranteed the ceasefire, an approach that can only come from our side, not the others."

And what came of it at the UN?

"Everyone asks me what I felt when I reached the secretary-general's room at the top of the UN building, the entrance to the White House, facing powerful ministers in the administration? I am silent. Hadar was killed and kidnapped during a humanitarian ceasefire guaranteed by the UN and the US. We informed the UN, Europe, and the US of Hamas' breaches of international humanitarian law. On June 11, 2019, UN legislation number 2474 was passed, stating that at the end of battles and before any agreement, parties must return the missing and dead as a confidence-building measure. Based on this, my wife Ayelet and I reached the room of UN Secretary-General Guterres with Ron Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, and Professor Cotler. Cotler explained in words he carved, originating from the essence of international humanitarian law, about the obligation of countries providing humanitarian aid, due to humanitarian imperatives, to check if the recipient acts humanely, and not commits humanitarian crimes. The sentence seems complicated, but it's quite simple. Nations of the world must not give humanitarian aid to those who hold and withhold information on the missing and refuse to pass medicine to the captives. Antihumanitarian and criminal behavior includes firing rockets and mortars on the south, using incendiary kites and explosives, stealing helium provided by Israel for Gaza hospitals, and using the gas to produce balloons that burn the south. We don't need to enforce it directly on Hamas. UN member states must address it or avoid supporting an entity committing humanitarian crimes."

Simcha continues to express his deep feelings: "How can I describe the deep shame I felt," he says, adding painfully, "Nations of the world rush to our aid to bring our son from the enemy, and my country fails, frozen, and silent. The weakness I feel, when the sons of the Hebrew nation need to rely on the world, is intensified by numerous memories. How has the feeling of strength changed when I stood at a military parade ground, watching my two sons march, proud and upright, at the conclusion of the officer course, carrying Israeli weapons, to Israel's powerful music, into the choking and shame when I'm thrown to the nations of the world to plead for a burial of an outstanding Israeli officer abandoned by his leaders who sent him to battle."

What other actions and struggles have you undertaken to bring Hadar to a Jewish burial?

"We have engaged in extensive public and legal campaigns across media and social networks. Just a small example. Leading up to Holocaust Remembrance Day, we launched a banner campaign in apps and on news and economic websites, under the header: 'The People of Israel Will Remember to Retrieve Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul.' In this campaign, we established 'Hadar's Battalion.' This is a volunteer initiative that will conduct and manage public activities domestically and internationally to retrieve IDF soldiers Lieutenant Hadar Goldin and Sergeant Oron Shaul, of blessed memory. I can tell you that everyone understands our struggle everywhere, but every time we reach achievements, the Prime Minister blocks the effort and foils it. I certainly blame him for the current situation, as well as all the ministers and IDF chiefs of staff who do not exert sufficient pressure."

Free Hadar Without Releasing Murderous Terrorists

So what do you want, to release hundreds of terrorists that would endanger civilians?

"I didn't ask for that, and I understand the danger in the matter. But until there, there are so many actions that Israel can do and isn't doing. Hamas regularly gets electricity, water, cement, medicine. All these things needed to be stopped, and it's not done. Who is even talking about the tens of millions being sent from Qatar to Gaza? Every dollar could bring the boys home. Just last week, another understanding was reached, and Hamas received $100 million, and nobody said the money would only come on the condition that they return the soldiers. Another thing we've been exposed to recently is that there are prisoners whose prison terms in Israel are ending, and they are released to Gaza. And I say don't release these prisoners, hold onto them, and make them the exchange deal. Why should the mother of a terrorist in Gaza celebrate and dance with her son returning from captivity, while we, the parents of an Israeli soldier, beg for our child's return who left on a state mission and has not returned?! Once they understand that we have elevated our struggle, the story will take a turn. This will be a prisoner exchange deal, and also without the risk of releasing terrorists because they were supposed to be released anyway."

Where did the information come from?

"Simple. Anyone can go onto Hamas' Facebook page and see the celebrations every week with every prisoner release. Anyone can go on and see. Wake up, everyone."

But nonetheless, we hear the country is indeed making efforts to get a deal with Hamas?!

"I want to tell you with certainty that all this is spin. The public must stop being convinced by these spins. It's not real, and nobody is seriously dealing with it. Nothing is happening. In principle, such things should be conducted secretly, and every time there are rumors, we understand that there's actually nothing, or something failed, and someone is trying to make a public and image turn on us."

Besides the minister Aryeh Deri, who is in the ministers' committee on captives and missing, who recently criticized the government's policy of showering Hamas in Gaza with humanitarian benefits without demanding the return of soldiers and civilians – no minister is doing anything. Finally, I ask Simcha about the feelings accompanying their daily lives: "It won't really help you if I say," Simcha tells me and adds: "You won't manage in any way to understand the feelings, certainly not to write them. But it's now a fact that we live, none of us gave up living, there are difficulties, and we continue to make the effort to live and look forward."