Dedication of Mitzpeh Ramon
Dedication of Mitzpeh RamonPR

The archaeological site of Mitzpe Hadar was inaugurated in a special ceremony Thursday in the town of Sal'it in Samaria. The site is named for Hadar Goldin, an IDF soldier who was killed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and whose body has been held by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza ever since.

The event was attended by the Goldin family, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Major General Yoav Poli Mordechai, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, and the commander of the Givati ​​platoon, Lieutenant Colonel Nir Ben Hamo.

Former Defense Minister Ya'alon said that "after more than two and a half years since Operation Protective Edge, I ask myself whether we did enough to bring back Oron [Shaul] and Hadar for burial in Israel. Unfortunately, I can not give a positive answer to this question."

"The conduct of politicians today places the full responsibility on the families [of the missing soldiers]," Ya'alon declared. "It is time to make decisions and implement decisions that have already been made in order to shift the responsibility for Hamas' actions to Hamas, especially in light of the Goldin family's nobility. The nation's leadership should have exhausted all means of exerting pressure on Hamas. Those who inhumanely hold the bodies of our soldiers and Israeli civilians [should be made to pay for it]."

He added that Israel's leaders "must make decisions based on our values, even when there are no mass demonstrations in the streets, which will undoubtedly raise the price [Hamas would exact from Israel for the return of the soldiers]."