Eleven years. Eleven long, painful years. 4,118 days. A child is finally returned to his parents. A hero returned to his nation.
Untold numbers came to recognize his face — on signs, stickers, shirts, and etched into hearts. The wide, beaming smile became an Israeli national symbol of hope and heartbreak.
Goldin, a soldier, was also a deep thinker and student of Torah. He wrote a commentary on the classic 18th-century ethical work, Mesillat Yesharim (“Path of the Upright”) by the Italian scholar Moshe Chaim Luzzato.
After more than a decade of uncertainty, Hadar Goldin is finally home.
A lieutenant in the IDF’s elite Givati Brigade, Goldin was killed by Hamas on Aug. 1, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge.
He had been leading a mission to dismantle a terror tunnel near Gaza’s southern city of Rafah during a supposed ceasefire. Hamas terrorists ambushed Goldin’s unit and dragged his body into a Gaza tunnel.
For eleven years, his family and the people of Israel fought tirelessly for his return.
On Nov. 8, Hamas announced that it had located Hadar’s body in a tunnel in Rafah and would return it the following day.
By the next afternoon, the Red Cross had transferred a body to Israel.
Following a detailed identification process carried out by the National Center of Forensic Medicine, together with the Israel Police and the IDF Rabbinate, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that the remains were indeed those of Lt. Hadar Goldin.
The government expressed its deep sorrow to the Goldin family and all the families of the fallen captives, reaffirming Israel’s commitment to bring every missing soldier and hostage home for proper burial.
“We will not compromise and will not rest until every one of them is brought home,” the government statement read.
Those who received Hadar’s remains at the edge of Gaza were reserve soldiers from his Givati unit — the same comrades who once served under his command.
Hadar’s parents, Leah and Simcha Goldin, addressed the nation in a press conference. Simcha opened by expressing profound gratitude to the soldiers who made the recovery possible, saying it was the IDF — and no one else — who brought his son home to a Jewish grave. He spoke with quiet pride of the army’s determination, noting that “the recent war proved that when we fight for our soldiers and citizens, we succeed.”
Leah Goldin recalled standing in the same place 11 years earlier, begging Israel’s leaders not to leave Gaza without her son.
Over the years, she said, the family traveled the world “trying to do the impossible.” She spoke of her disappointment in missed opportunities, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, when she believed Hadar could have been returned in exchange for vaccines.
“No one should be mistaken,” she said. “The first thing is friendship — and human dignity. We went through many disappointments, but we never gave up.”
The IDF Chief of Staff revealed that over the years, the military had conducted “heroic operations” to locate and bring home Hadar’s remains — including missions deep underground where soldiers painstakingly sifted through dirt “like archaeological excavations,” risking their lives in the process.
Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his gratitude to the IDF and to the Goldin family, saying he had always believed this day would come. “I knew we would bring him home,” he said. “We never gave up for a moment.”
For 11 long, agonizing years, the Goldin family clung to faith that their beloved Hadar would one day return. That day has finally come.
It took 11 long, painful years — but Hadar and his family finally have some measure of closure.
His memory, his heroism, and his radiant smile will remain with his family, comrades and admirers forever — a shining symbol of the price of freedom and the strength of the Israeli people.
— United With Israel
