Dem
48
Ties
1
GOP
51
Hersh Goldberg-Polin became, at least in the U.S., the face of the Hamas hostages when his parents spoke about their ordeal at the Democratic National Convention. This past weekend, his body was recovered, along with those of five other hostages. He may have been killed just hours earlier; this was reported by some outlets, but has not been confirmed. Yesterday, Goldberg-Polin's parents laid him to rest, while more than 17,000 viewers looked on, most of them courtesy of a livestream broadcast over the Internet.
Nobody would blame John Polin and Rachel Goldberg if they were angry, or if they decided to do some finger-pointing. However, that is not the direction they went. Here's Goldberg:
Hersh, for all these months, I have been in such torment and worry about you for every single millisecond of every single day... Now I no longer have to worry about you. I know you are no longer in danger. You are with beautiful Honor. He will show you around. You will hopefully meet my grandparents, who will adore you... I pray that your death will be a turning point in this horrible situation in which we are all entangled... If there was something we could have done to save you and we didn't think of it, I beg your forgiveness. We tried so very hard, so deeply and desperately... Finally, my sweet boy, finally, finally, finally, finally, you're free.
And Polin:
Hersh, I'm sorry. We're sorry. We failed. You didn't fail. You would have pushed harder, and we will push so that your death and that of all the soldiers will not be in vain. We will bring home the remaining hostages. Our hope is not lost yet. The life we had with you was a blessing, and now we will work so that your legacy will be a blessing. I love you.
There were also thousands of in-person attendees at the service, which was held in Jerusalem. Goldberg-Polin was interred at Givat Shaul Cemetery, which is the city's largest. It is also known as Har HaMenuchot, which means "Mount of Those who are Resting."
It goes without saying that the vast majority of people hope that Polin and Goldberg are right, and that this proves to be a turning point, pointing the way toward peace. Unfortunately, that vast majority does not appear to include the key Middle East players, the ones who are making the decisions. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu knows full well that once this war ends, he will likely be out of power, and may be headed to prison. Plus, he's a hawk's hawk. So, he responded to the news of the six deaths with promises that there would be vengeance and a total defeat of Hamas. Meanwhile, the leaders of Hamas are also served by the current state of affairs, since they are destabilizing Israel and gaining attention for their cause (even if it's not clear to everyone exactly what that cause might be). Iran, who is paying the bills and pulling the strings for Hamas, is happy as a clam, too. Anything that creates chaos in Israel, and that makes it harder for the Middle East's anti-Iran bloc to function, is fan-damn-tastic as far as the Ayatollah is concerned.
That said, the pressure on the Netanyahu government is mounting. Joe Biden delivered a fiery speech on Sunday, and is reportedly considering ways to turn the screws with both Netanyahu and Hamas. We are skeptical that Biden has all that many options at his disposal, but if he does have any, he'll figure them out.
Meanwhile, and surely more importantly, there's a lot of domestic discord in Israel right now. Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant (a well-known Netanyahu rival and skeptic) got into a public screaming match this weekend. There have been mass protests in Jerusalem and other cities over the past several days. There was also going to be a general strike of Israeli workers, until far-right elements of the Netanyahu government went to Israel's Labor Court and got a judge to shut it down.
We are not expert enough in this subject to make predictions. And even if we were, the current conflict between Israel and Hamas has been going on for over 300 days. The larger conflict between Israel and (some of) their neighbors has been going on for almost 80 years. The even larger conflict has been going on for centuries and millennia. That means that, if you have to guess, then the smart money is that the end of the war in Gaza is not imminent. That said, it does have to end sometime, and the Israeli people—a lot of them, at least—are clearly getting sick of the approach Netanyahu is pursuing.
Incidentally, there is another domestic politics angle to this. Tim Walz was campaigning at the Minnesota State Fair, and someone (presumably a reporter, though it's actually not 100% clear from the footage) asked him about the six dead hostages. Walz might not have heard the question. Or, he might have heard it and decided that the middle of a crowded event was not the place to answer. Either way, he did not answer. Afterwards, many right-wing pundits lambasted Walz for being a "coward" and "depraved" and part of a "Hamas faction" in the Democratic Party.
Walz did eventually make a statement on eX-Twitter:
The anguish of losing a child is something no family should have to endure. Gwen and I send our deepest condolences to the Goldberg-Polin family, after Hamas' murder of their son Hersh.
Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization—and we condemn their continued atrocities against both Americans and Israelis in the strongest possible terms.
Most right-wing types said this was too little, too late, apparently overlooking that, for example, it took Donald Trump a good 4 months to answer questions about how he plans to vote on the Florida abortion amendment. In any event, this has the feel of yet another desperate (and likely to fail) attempt to create a Harris-Walz scandal.
As to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, if it is appropriate for us to say so, may his memory be a blessing. (Z)