The family of Hadar Goldin, an IDF soldier who was killed in battle during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and whose body has been held by the Hamas terrorist organization ever since, spoke over the phone Sunday with the senior military adviser to the Prime Minister, Gen. Eliezer Toledano, and to Col. Lior Lotan, the prime minister's envoy on hostages and missing persons.
The conversation took place following the Security Cabinet's decision to adopt a new strategy for returning Israeli soldiers and civilians held by Hamas and other terrorist organizations, and to bury the bodies of Hamas soldiers in Israel rather than return them to their families. Goldin's parents were informed of the decisions reached by the Cabinet.
The Goldins were unimpressed by the Cabinet's decisions. "We will not issue citations to those who acted too little and too late." The family said in a statement. "For two years and five months nothing has been done to bring Oron [Shaul] and Hadar home."
"The plan of action which was decided upon unanimously by the cabinet deals with important issues which can be used as leverage against Hamas. But it is the Prime Minister's responsibility to make the decisions, and we expect that there will be a clear mechanism for deterioration and the intensification of measures against Hamas with the actions that the government has now said it will take." the family added.
Leah Goldin, Hadar's mother, had earlier blasted Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman for showing insensitivity to her family's plight and reneging on promises to act to bring the missing soldiers home.
"We had one meeting [with Minister Liberman] one month after he came into office. He told us, 'you can talk. I'm not telling you anything.'" she said in an interview on Israel Radio. "These were the responses we received from the Defense Minister who promised that 48 hours after taking office he would eliminate [Hamas leader Ismail] Haniyeh and bring back the soldiers."
"However, now I read in the news that he immediately ordered an investigation into the publication of pictures of haredi soldiers. Apparently he knows how to appeal directly to the Public Security Minister, how to appeal directly to the Justice Minister, but for some reason, when it comes to the return of the soldiers...he is a member of the Cabinet and he is 'waiting for the day that the Cabinet will meet' and 'today the issue will be raised on the agenda' - he's [just been] making excuses." she added.