Leah Goldin, mother of kidnapped slain soldier Hadar Goldin, spoke with Arutz Sheva about the latest agreements underway regarding Gaza. She blasted any agreement involving aid to Gaza which does not set as a precondition the return of her son’s body and that of soldier Oron Shaul.
“We are very upset since last Thursday, since we understand that Netanyahu already entered an understanding with the Egyptians and Americans and Qatar and others about rebuilding Gaza together- and this is all done without bringing Hadar and Oron back to Israel.”
“This goes, first of all, against what he promised us, that the return of the soldiers would be a precondition for anything like this. And now, especially since there is going to be a cabinet meeting in the afternoon, we are worried that Netanyahu already had some agreements about Gaza, without including the soldiers in the agreements. We call on all cabinet ministers to stand up and reject any advance of this agreement without first returning the soldiers, otherwise business will take over, and as soon as there is such a decision, everything will move on, and we will stay here without Hadar and Oron. And this is a great threat to the defense of Israel, the families, and our soldiers. Because the prime minister is responsible - whoever sends our soldiers into battle is responsible for bringing them back, no matter what their status is.”
She said that Netanyahu could stand to take a play out of US President Donald Trump’s playbook.
“Since President Trump raised the idea of having an agreement with North Korea, but before any meeting he requested that the North Korean leader release hostages and blow up a nuclear facility - and only then he agreed to meet and start a discussion. It is the same thing here. The return of the soldiers is a credibility check, first of all of our enemy, but no less of our leaders, our prime minister, the cabinet members. Our greatest frustration is that, as we speak, there are cabinet members distributing messages that we work against the interest of Israel, and that we will cause the next war. I refuse to accept it, and I think the Jewish people will too.”
“I call on the Jewish people to demand from PM Netanyahu not to do anything with respect to Gaza without first returning Hadar and Oron.”