Father of Slain IDF Soldier Blames Kerry, UN for Son’s Death
by David Daoud
Exactly one year after his son, Hadar, was killed during Operation Protective Edge, Simchah Goldin told Walla! News on Wednesday in an exclusive interview that the death of his son should be on the conscience of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Goldin made the comment while speaking about the Hannibal Protocol that was activated by the IDF in the area of Rafah during last year’s operation, when it became apparent that a soldier was missing and was taken by Hamas during a 72-hour ceasefire.
“According to what I heard from his friends and his brigade commander who were with me, Hadar was not one who would go down without a fight, so we were sure that he was hurt. The Givati Brigade tried to rescue Hadar, on the assumption that he was alive and injured,” said Goldin, adding that every military unit in the world would act in such a way to rescue one of its members.
Goldin continued, “The one who proposed the [72-hour] cease fire,” during which Hadar was captured and killed, “was U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. They put on pressure for a cease-fire.”
“Hadar and his friends were killed because of this cease-fire,” said Goldin. “And I am very disappointed with the U.S. secretary of state. The three casualties are on his conscience. One year does not change this.”
Goldin also commented on Hamas’s behavior, saying, “From the time of ancient Greece, it has been accepted that bodies are returned after the fight is over. Only Hamas thinks that it can charge a price for this.”
Hadar Goldin, an officer in the IDF’s Givati Brigade, was killed by Hamas terrorists during Operation Protective Edge, last summer’s 50-day conflict between Israel and the terror group. He was 23 years old at the time of his death.
The incident happened less than two hours into a 72-hour ceasefire between the two sides. He and a group of other IDF soldiers were ambushed from a Hamas tunnel in a rural area near Rafah.
Two other soldiers close to Hadar Goldin, Benaya Sarel and Liel Gidoni, were immediately killed in the attack by a Hamas suicide bomber who had been hiding inside the tunnel.