Jewish Agency calls on Diaspora to help return Hamas captives from Gaza

The Jewish Agency called on Jewish communities around the world to help with the struggle of four Israeli families seeking to bring home their sons from Gaza, two of whom are being held captive and two of whom are dead but whose bodies Hamas refuses to return.

Addressing the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Board of Governors meeting on Sunday morning, Leah Goldin, whose son Hadar, 23, was killed in during the IDF’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014, said that Hamas had “descended into Godlessness” by refusing to release the bodies of fallen soldiers, and that this added to the already unbearable experience of losing a child.

“We need your help to do justice. We have paid enough in this life. I ask that justice will be done with my son,” Goldin told the assembled board members regarding Hadar, who was serving in a commando unit of the IDF’s Givati Brigade.

“People of faith all over the world understand that it is wrong to hold hostage the bodies of fallen soldiers. Holding the remains of our fallen son to inflict further pain is a descent into godlessness and barbarity,” she continued.

“This is an unbearable experience that has been made even more terrible due to the fact that we have been prevented from giving our son a proper burial, prevented from being able to grieve for him and visit him in accordance with Jewish tradition.”

Goldin described Hadar as having an “unforgettable smile,” whose mission in life was “to bring people together.”

Speaking tearfully, she noted that he had been killed 13 days before he was due to be married, and that last week he would have celebrated his 29th birthday.

Goldin said that the best way to get Hamas to return Hadar was to condition any rebuilding programs in Gaza on the return of her son, and called on those assembled to lobby in their respective countries for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2474, passed in June last year, which calls for parties to armed conflict to return the remains of those killed during hostilities.

Following Goldin’s speech, the Jewish Agency Board of Governors adopted a resolution calling on Jews around the world to help in the effort to have the remains of Hadar Goldin returned to Israel for burial, as well as the remains of Oron Shaul who was also killed in Operation Protective Edge. The resolution also calls for the return by Hamas of Israeli civilians Avera Mangistu and Hisham al-Sayed who are currently being held captive by the Gaza regime.

“We call on the entire Jewish people to express their full support and love for the families of the missing soldiers and the families of the two civilians held in Gaza in their struggle to return their loved ones to the State of Israel,” the Jewish Agency resolution reads.