For 11 months, the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin tapped into reserves of strength that most people never need to find. We watched it firsthand, as parents of a hostage ourselves. Our 20-year-old son Edan, an American citizen who graduated from high school in Tenafly, N.J., was serving in the Israel Defense Forces near Gaza when Hamas took him captive on Oct. 7.
For 331 days, the world has failed our son and his fellow hostages: The Israeli government has abandoned them, too many countries have turned a blind eye, and while we’re grateful for the U.S. government’s steadfast support, its efforts have yet to yield results.
Last month, the world watched as Hersh’s parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, told the story of their 23-year-old son at the Democratic National Convention. Ms. Goldberg, looking small next to the podium, and Mr. Polin, hunched over the microphone, spoke with emotion and clarity. With heavy hearts, we rewatched their speech on Sunday, hours after the world learned that the bodies of Hersh and five other hostages were recovered by the Israeli military in Gaza.
The result of Hamas’s cruelty and Israel’s indifference have now come to bear, and two people who have become family to us have paid the ultimate price. Hersh’s brutal killing has us racked with pain for the Goldberg-Polins and fear that our own son Edan will soon meet the same fate.
None of this had to happen.
Since October, we — along with Jon, Rachel, and other hostage families — have warned that our loved ones could be killed in captivity without a deal to bring them home. Every day as captives puts their lives more at risk.
And yet, after one hopeful but temporary cease-fire agreement that released more than 100 hostages, we have only experienced delay after delay.
The New York Times
