Parents of Hadar Goldin
Parents of Hadar GoldinFlash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met today with familiesof soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul Shaul, together with the coordinator of POWs and MIAs, Yaron Blum.

Netanyahu briefed the families on ongoing Israeli government efforts to return their sons, and on activities of the Coordinator of POWs and MIAs and his team, which consists of representatives from all security branches working for this purpose.

"The Israeli government is acting in open and covert ways to bring back IDF soldiers and civilians in Hamas captivity," Netanyahu told the families.

The Prime Minister met with the Mengistu and A-Sayid families in December 2017, and is in constant contact with them all.

Yesterday, the Goldin family launched a campaign on the Internet under the slogan Remember Israel to return Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul.

As part of the campaign, the Goldin family, together with the Hadar Return Organization headed by Colonel (res.) Erez Wiener, established the Hadar Formation.

This is a volunteer group that will initiate, organize, and conduct activities in the Israeli public sphere and abroad for the return of IDF soldiers Lieutenant Hadar Goldin and Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul.

The Goldin family said: "We thank the media for their spirit in volunteering and enlistment to the task. The State of Israel is preparing for the 70th anniversary of our independence, but our celebration is not complete without Oron and Hadar. We are here, and the Israeli public is with us, to remind the Prime Minister and the ministers that two combat soldiers who were sent to defend the country during Operation Protective Shield are still held in Gaza by Hamas."

Hours after the declaration of the internationally brokered cease-fire during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, Operation Protective Edge, Hamas terrorists ignored their own agreement and murdered Lieutenant Goldin, dragging his body deep into one of the underground tunnels in Gaza.

Oron Shaul’s armored personnel carrier (APC) was hit by Hamas terrorists on July 20, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge. All the soldiers on the APC were killed, and his body was abducted during the resulting melee.

Both families have worked tirelessly for the repatriation of the bodies kidnapped by Hamas during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014. Both soldiers were declared dead by the Israeli government in consultation with the Rabbinate and medical authorities.