On Sunday morning, during an interview with Nick Raskin on Channel 12, Simcha Goldin, father of
kidnapped Lt. Hadar Goldin, stated that there is large disparity between the conduct of the soldiers in
the field, who can be seen wishing to bring being Hadar back at all cost, including endangering
themselves, and the conduct of the decision-making echelon.
Towards the end of Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014, two soldiers were kidnapped by
Hamas terrorists. One of whom was Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old lieutenant serving in the Givati Brigade
commando unit. He was kidnapped while two other soldiers were killed when terrorists came out of a
tunnel leading into Israel from Gaza.
The second soldier was 21 year old Sergeant Oron Shaul. Shaul had left his armored personnel carrier to repair something on the vehicle. Hamas had claimed they kidnapped him and showed Shaul’s army ID card and tags in videos. The IDF later confirmed that Shaul was not among the dead found in the APC and was later declared a prisoner of war.
Uvda Investigative Channel recently released a video from body-cams of soldiers who had gone after the terrorists in the tunnels in an attempt to get Hadar Goldin back.
In the interview, Goldin mentioned that part of the investigation revealed that Hadar was brought to the
hospital in Najah, Shechem. According to him, proper orders could have been given to take back his son: “That hospital was under the command of Brigade Commander Ofer Winter. Someone had blocked the Brigade commander so he could not enter the hospital.” Goldin also stated that there would have been at that moment that Hadar could have been returned.
“I expect the investigative journalists to go and see who stopped the forces from entering the hospital. I
want to know who stopped [the forces] and where that man is today,” Goldin said, making it clear that
he has his own suspicions, but was unable to talk about it."
He even said, “I signed…” but did not clarify further, possibly implying he signed a confidentiality form preventing him from speaking about it in public.
“I assume that this man [who ordered the prevention of entrance to the hospital] is either in the army or
in the Shin Bet. This man did not look us in the eye and did not explain to the public how he prevented
Hadar being brought to the hospital, but did not allow forces to enter the hospital. It is possible that this
is also the case with Oron Shaul in Sejaiya, in a hospital there.
“I hope that this is the last time Hamas leaders enter hospitals and know they have immunity there.
That’s the point,” Goldin added. He said that of the many pictures exposed during the Uvda
Investigation, he himself had not seen before.
“There is a lot of work here for investigators. The soldiers did what was required of them, but where is
the prime minister who sent them and did not return them for four more years? Where is the defense
minister, and what does he say if the abandonment? And where I’d Benny Gantz (the Chief of Staff at
the time), who know what happened there and needs to talk about it? Where is Bennett? Who was
there in the cabinet (during the war)?”