NEW YORK - World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder held a meaningful discussion Monday with the parents of Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin, whose body remains in Hamas captivity three years after he fell in battle in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge.
Lauder thanked Simcha and Leah Goldin for their sacrifice and pledged to do everything possible to maintain awareness of their plight and advocate for the release of their son.
In 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, IDF Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, age 23, and Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul, age 20, and, were both abducted by the Hamas. The IDF has concluded, based on forensic evidence, that both soldiers were killed in action.
“For the Shaul and Goldin families, the war in Gaza is still not over. These families are in a state of perpetual limbo, unable to properly mourn or give their sons burial in Israel. It is imperative that we continue to advocate on their behalf and to urge the international community to pressure Hamas to release their bodies at once,” Lauder said following the meeting.
The World Jewish Congress has met a number of times in the recent years with both the Goldin and Shaul families in support of their cause. Aviram Shaul, the brother of Oron Shaul, visited the WJC office in April as part of his US speaking tour for a discussion with Jewish communal leaders on the efforts being made to secure his brother's return.
The World Jewish Congress in June submitted to the International Committee of the Red Cross a petition on the families’ behalf, signed by more than 11,000 individuals worldwide, who have engaged on behalf of the families of the fallen soldiers, demanding that Hamas return their bodies.
In September, ICRC President Peter Maurer told a forum of the WJC in Jerusalem that his organization has committed itself to dealing with the humanitarian issue of missing persons, including the Israelis soldiers and civilians currently being held in Gaza, was speaking as the guest lecturer at a meeting of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations (ICFR), which operates under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress and Lauder’s chairmanship.
