‘What about my son?’ asks mother of slain IDF soldier after Naama Issachar release

“How does he move heaven and earth for Naama – a criminal who received a pardon – and does nothing to bring back the soldiers?” said Leah Goldin.

By World Israel News Staff

Leah Goldin, the mother of slain IDF soldier Lt. Hadar Goldin whose body is still being held by Hamas, expressed her dismay with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for pulling all the strings to free Naama Issachar while not doing enough in her view to get back the body of her son.

“How does he move heaven and earth for Naama [Issachar] – a criminal who received a pardon – and does nothing to bring back the soldiers?” she charged during an interview on Channel 12 News.

“Naama’s story – my heart is with them and I understand the mother and I am excited and crying with her. But my son, who was sent by Netanyahu to Gaza, has been there for 2,000 days,” she said.

Hadar Goldin was killed in 2014 amid a UN-brokered ceasefire during Operation Protective Edge. Since then, Hamas has refused to return his body, along with the body of IDF soldier Oron Shaul. The terror group is also holding captive two mentally ill civilians, presumed to be alive, who crossed into Gaza on their own in 2014 and 2015 – Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.

The Goldin family has repeatedly called on Netanyahu to abide by a 2017 cabinet decision not to give back Hamas terrorists’ bodies until they release the soldiers’ remains.

On Nov. 17, 2019, Netanyahu met with the parents of the two murdered soldiers, during which he reportedly promised them that he will never agree to a long-term ceasefire with Hamas unless their sons’ bodies were returned,, He also vowed to never return the bodies of terrorists back to Gaza.

Prior to the meeting, Goldin’s parents told the media what they hoped would result from the session.

“After five years and four months in which nothing has really been done, we expect to hear from Netanyahu when he will return the soldiers and civilians who are in the hands of Hamas,” they said at the time.

On July 17, 2019, Netanyahu arranged a private meeting with all four grieving families. Goldin’s mother left the meeting only half an hour after it began to tell the press that the whole purpose of the meeting was to silence the families shortly before the anniversary of Operation Protective Edge.

Benjamin NetanyahuLeah GoldinNaama Issachar