Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, spoke Sunday with Simcha and Leah Goldin, the parents of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who fell in combat in the Gaza Strip on Friday.

He told them, “Hadar was a tremendous personality, a great hero. I know that you are going through terrible agony, the feeling that a part of you has been taken away and you are no longer whole. This is pain that has no relief, not even for a moment. I hope that you will find consolation in the fact that he fell to uphold the people of Israel in the struggle for our independence.”

Lt. Hadar Goldin, hy”d, who was killed by Hamas terrorists on Friday, was a close relative of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, it was cleared for publication Sunday morning.

Ya’alon related to his relative’s death for the first time publicly on Sunday afternoon. 

“Hadar Goldin, z”l, is in my family,” Ya’alon stated. “I have known him since he was born.”

“He and his fellow IDF soldiers fell during a campaign to restore peace and security to Israel,” the Defense Minister continued. “I embrace the bereaved families.”