Jon Goldberg-Polin, the father of Hersh, said: “We had lots of meetings in the 330 days that we were actively in this struggle [for their release]. We challenged decision makers and said, ‘You’re lacking urgency, we need to bring these people home today, why are you confident that we have time and that this isn’t going to lead to a situation where too much military pressure […] leads to captors lining up hostages and shooting them one by one in the head?’
“These are conversations that we actually had and we asked that very question, ‘Why won’t it end this way?’ And we were immediately told each time, ‘No, no, no, it’s not going to end like that; they’re an asset, there are reasons why it’s not going to end that way.’”
Hersh Goldberg-Polin was one of six murdered hostages whose bodies were found in a tunnel in late August after 11 months of Hamas captivity — along with Carmel Gat, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, and Alexander Lobanov.
They were discovered shortly after being executed by their captors, apparently as a result of IDF troops closing in on the location in Rafah, Gaza. Their deaths led to outrage over the Israeli government’s decision not to secure a ceasefire deal that may have led to some hostages being freed.
Hersh’s mother described in detail the terrible conditions in which the six hostages were held captive, describing the location as an “airless, completely pitch black tunnel with no plumbing”.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin speaks during her son's funeral in Jerusalem (Photo: Getty Images)POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Her son, who was almost 6ft tall, weighed only 53kg by the time the family buried him. She said all the bodies of the murdered hostages were found emaciated and bullet ridden, and that there were bottles of dark urine throughout the tunnel showing how dehydrated the captives had been.
There was a plastic bucket at one end, which she said gave the hostages some semblance of privacy when using the bathroom,
Hersh Goldberg-Polin.[Missing Credit]
Hersh had already lost his left hand during a grenade attack on October 7. When his body was recovered, a bullet had gone through his remaining right hand, perhaps because he had tried to shield his face in self-defence. Further bullet wounds were found on his shoulder, neck, and the back of his head, which was apparently shot through twice.
“Hersh was found on his knees, like he had collapsed, and […] beautiful 24-year-old Eden Yerushalmi’s head was on his lap,” said Goldberg-Polin. “It was a horrifying scene, all of them were so thin, all of them were shot multiple times at close range.”
After Hersh’s body was recovered, his parents got notified by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wanted to speak to them, but they declined the offer.
“We elected at the time not to,” said Jon Goldberg-Polin. “I don’t really know what we would say to political decision makers, to certain rabbis, to other people in positions of leadership who we think failed us.”
He said that there were several points over the 330 days that Hersh and the five others were held captive that a release-deal could have been secured.
“The rationale for not doing it changed every time, whether it was something about the Netzarim Corridor or Philadelphi, or how to move Gazan citizens back from the south to the north [of Gaza], or the length of a pause,” he said.
He noted that “the defence ministry in Israel, the head of the military, the head of Shin Bet, the head of Mossad, [and] the lead negotiator were all publicly saying in July we should cease this opportunity”, but that there was “political pressure” in the other direction.
He cited a letter written in July by several right-wing religious rabbis, who warned against a hostage release deal at the time. Goldberg-Polin said the rabbis “never even understood the content of a deal that could be done, and in principle were rejecting a deal”.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin said political leaders shouldn’t ask them, the parents, for forgiveness for their mistakes, but should seek repentance through choosing to do things differently as the war continues.
“According to Jewish law […] when you do a sin intentionally, you bear the punishment for that sin. Don’t come and ask me to forgive you for that sin. I’m not the right address,” she said. “Real T’shuva is when you find yourself in the exact same situation where you did the thing that you know was wrong, and you choose differently.”
She added: “What I would challenge those people who wanted to come to us after they chose not to save the six: You have 101 chances now. Do it, and that’s the repentance. You don’t have to come to me and ask for forgiveness,” she said, referring to the number of hostages still held in Gaza.
The bereaved parents expressed a renewed urgency to secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages. “Now that we know how they [the six] were found, it is so vastly obvious that there is not one second to waste,” said Rachel Goldberg-Polin. “We need to move now, there are people today, as we’re sitting here talking, who are in those same conditions, and it’s probably gotten worse.”
