Posted on 09/02/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
Thousands arrived at the Kehillat Yerushalayim Funeral Home near the Har Hamenuchot Cemetary in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon to pay their final respects to American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was murdered in captivity by Hamas terrorists last week.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke at the funeral. "Dear Jon and Rachel, Libby and Orly, and the entire family, Michal and I have gotten to know you very well over the past eleven months."
"Like millions, we too have watched you travel around the world and watched speak from your own, as you call it, 'private planet of terror and anguish,' with a courage and clarity that moved mountains," Herzog said. "As you told millions just a few days ago, Jon, the hostages being held by Hamas are not a political issue; they are a humanitarian issue. And that is why it is the duty of every single one of us across the globe to ensure that every last one comes home immediately."
"Jon and Rachel, against the senseless hatred and unthinkable brutality of Hamas terror, pure barbaric evil, you have taught the world about human dignity. As a human being, as a father, and as the President of the State of Israel, I want to say how sorry I am, how sorry I am that we didn't protect Hersh on that dark day, how sorry I am that we failed to bring him home," he said.
"In his life and in his death, Hersh has touched all of humanity deeply. He has changed our world and woven his essence of light and love into the story of the Jewish people and into our human story forever," the President said.
23-year-old Hersh's body was located and recovered by IDF forces in a tunnel in Rafah on Saturday night together with the bodies of five other hostages: Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Master Sergeant Ori Danino.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th. He was wounded in the arm by a grenade that was thrown into a shelter in which he was hiding after fleeing the party. Forensic examinations found that the five were murdered by gunshots at close range to their heads only 48-72 hours earlier.
Hersh's mother, Rachel, said at the funeral, "For all these months, I have been in such torment and worry about you for every single millisecond of every single day. It is such a specific type of misery that I had never experienced before. I tried hard to suppress the missing you part because that, I was convinced, would break me. So I spent 330 days terrified, scared, worrying, and frightened. It closed my throat and made my soul throb with 3rd degree burns."
She said that the family had been "absolutely certain" that he would be returned alive, "but it was not to be. Now I no longer have to worry about you, I know you are no longer in danger."
“I pray that your death will be a turning point in this horrible situation we are in,” she said. “Because finally, my sweet boy, finally, finally, finally, finally you’re free. I will love you and I will miss you every single day."
Hersh's father Jon said while eulogizing his son, ""Hersh, we failed you. We all failed you. You would not have failed you. You would have pushed harder for justice. You would have worked to understand the other, to bridge differences. You would have challenged more people to challenge their own thinking. And what you would be pushing for now is to ensure that your death, the deaths of all the soldiers and so many innocent civilians are not in vain. Your starting point would be returning all of the hostages."
"For 330 days, Mama and I sought the proverbial stone that we could turn over to save you. Maybe, just maybe, your death is the stone, the fuel, that will bring home the remaining 101 hostages," he said.