Goldin family urges PM to act 'as if Hadar was your son'
Family of Hadar Goldin, whose body, together with that of Oron Shaul, is being held by Hamas in Gaza, call for sanctions to be imposed on Hamas and PA following reconciliation deal; promise to launch international campaign 'without government's support' and insist international community backs their cause.
The parents of Sgt. Hadar Goldin, whose body has been held by Hamas in Gaza since 2014, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday afternoon to work for the return of their son as if he were his own, while accusing him of systematically failing to support efforts for his body's return to Israel.
“Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Netanyahu, I am permitting myself to tell you that you must act as if Hadar and Oron Shaul are your sons,” said Goldin’s mother, Leah, at a press conference in Ramat Gan, also referencing the same fate that befell Oron Shaul.
Calling for imposing sanctions on the Palestinian Authority (PA) for its reconciliation deal with the Gaza-based terror group, members of the Goldin family also highlighted that the UN Security Council and Islamic countries had expressed support for their demands in a discussion on abduction last month.
“The state is sending us to return our sons without any support, and we shouldn't ahve to deal with the return of a son who went to battle,” Leah lamented.
“After decades of Israel being attacked as a state that violates international law, an opposite suggestion has been made in the Security Council that says Hamas and the PA are blatantly violating international law,” she continued.
The PA is directly responsible, the family continued, for the “barbaric holding onto of Hadar and Oron. We have a case to impose on the PA sanctions in light of its violation of international law and we intend to launch a process in the international sphere without governmental support.”
Simcha Goldin, Hadar’s father, emphasized that his son was abducted during a ceasefire that was in effect during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 between Israel and Hamas that was brokered by the UN and the US.
“Hadar is a victim of violation of a ceasefire according to international law. If there was a normal policy, this meeting would take place in Netanyahu’s office. We expect the government to change its attitude, stand by our side in this struggle and become a partner in our journey,” Simcha said.
The sanctions being demanded for the Gaza Strip were not intended, the family noted, to harm civilians. “We haven’t asked to hurt the population. We want them to turn to the PA and people involved in the reconciliation who want to reach an agreement, like human rights groups and organizations that promote peace,” the family explained.
“We want them to return Hadar and Oron, and therefore first of all abide by international law and only after can we pursue peace.”
Professor Irwin Cotler, the former Canadian minister of Justice who is assisting the Goldin family in the international arena pointed out that the issue of Hadar Goldin garnered a broad consensus in the UN Security Council.
“Many countries identified with Leah and Simcha,” he said. “They acknowledged the violation of humanitarian international law and demanded not only what we have asked for, but also acknowledged that the address (for the sanctions) is not only Hamas but also the PA. They are now responsible from a governmental point of view for what happens in the Gaza Strip.”
