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Goldin family to Cabinet members: Are you rubber stamps?

June 28, 2016

The family of Hadar Goldin, the IDF soldier whose body continues to be held by Hamas in Gaza, on Tuesday night sent a letter to the members of the Security Cabinet ahead of the Wednesday’s discussion in which the Cabinet is expected to approve the reconciliation agreement with Turkey.

The family, along with the family of missing soldier Oron Shaul and the family of Israeli citizen Avraham (Avera) Mengistu, who is also held in Gaza, are protesting the fact that the agreement with Turkey did not include the release of their sons by Hamas.

“Turkey needed the agreement just as it needs air to breathe following its conflicts with a long list of countries,” the family wrote.

“The Prime Minister made Hamas a party to the agreement through Turkey, which sponsors the organization and looks after its needs and after the humanitarian situation in Gaza. By doing this, the Prime Minister encourages terrorism and gives a prize to Hamas,” they added.

The family members claim that the content of the agreement with Turkey could have been different.

“The demand to return our boys would not have destroyed the agreement and the Prime Minister did not even try to raise it. Is there anything more humanitarian than returning our sons?”

“The national interest is, first and foremost, that fighters who go into battle know that those who sent them will do everything to take care of them and bring them home safely. The mutual responsibility and the social cohesion are the spirit through which our fighters go to wars and win them,” the family wrote.

“Using an undemocratic procedure, the Prime Minister signed the agreement, and only afterwards it is presented for your approval. Are you rubber stamps? The responsibility to bringing back our boys depends on you and on your vote,” they concluded.

Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu met with the families of the IDF soldiers and with the family of Mengistu.

The meeting came after increased protests by the families and the wider public in the wake of the deal with Turkey.

“The Prime Minister gave an explanation and reasons which I am not at liberty to disclose,” said Ilan Mengistu, brother of Avera, “but we are still of the opinion that they have completely ignored our boys. It is forbidden to abandon citizens of Israel. We cannot support this agreement.”

It is worth noting that on Monday, at the press conference in which he announced the agreement with Turkey, Netanyahu explicitly mentioned the captives held by Hamas.

He pointed out that Turkish President Erdogan had written a letter to all relevant Turkish agencies, instructing them to help resolve this issue.

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