שמחה גולדין: נתניהו לא חוזר אליי

The weekly “Misdar Hadar” protest was held on Friday afternoon in Kibbutz Sa’ad in the Gaza envelope, the 72nd consecutive week in which the protest has been held.

Misdar Hadar is named for Hadar Goldin, the IDF soldier whose body has been held by Hamas in Gaza since 2014.

This week's protest, which including a planting ceremony of olive trees, was attended by Knesset members Michael Biton (Blue and White), Eli Avidar (Yisrael Beytenu), Alon Schuster (Blue and White), Sdot Negev Regional Council head Tamir Idan and the parents of Hadar Goldin, Leah and Simcha.

Professor Simcha Goldin attacked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the event, saying, "We returned from the US two weeks ago with significant achievements in the international arena. The UN General Assembly will open in ten days and this is an opportunity to bring the issue of the boys' return to the global agenda and to mobilize the international community for the cause of humanitarian in exchange for humanitarian.”

"For the past two weeks we have been trying in every way to hold a phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on this matter. We have gone through all the official sources, but we are unable to hold a conversation with the Prime Minister about life itself. There are other things besides the elections. The United States and the UN Secretary-General have promised to act within the General Assembly, but we have no answers from Netanyahu and his government," he added.

MK Avidar said that Hamas detainees in Israeli prisons receive conditions similar to an "all-inclusive hotel" and added, "In fact, the Israeli government is in contravention of the Geneva Convention in the preferential treatment it gives Hamas prisoners. It does so while Hamas holds soldiers and civilians. This issue is under Netanyahu's personal care."

MK Schuster said, "The political system must prove that it is committed to the Goldin and Shaul families and to the return of the boys. Unfortunately, this is not the case at the moment and must be changed."

Added MK Biton, "We saw this week how Yahya Sinwar, who was released in the Gilad Shalit deal, caused the Prime Minister to get off the stage (during a rocket attack while Netanyahu was speaking at an election rally -ed). This is the best answer to the fact that the Goldin family is right about all its demands of the government."

Idan said at the event, "I have not heard, from any of the parties running for the Knesset, a new idea on how to deal with the situation in the south or how to bring about the return of the boys. At first they said it was only a balloon, and only a kite, and only a fire and we ended up with 700 missiles and 100 sirens in one day. We have been in combat here for two years now. After the election or even before, there’s going to be a very difficult and violent round here, and I don't know what will happen in it. I don't know if our residents are as strong as they were five years ago."

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)