‘I’M SORRY’

Israeli President Asks Killed Hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s Family for Forgiveness

In his eulogy, Israeli President Isaac Herzog apologized to the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin for his “failure” to bring him home alive.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog delivered the eulogy Monday for American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the six hostages who were found dead in Gaza on Saturday. In his speech, Herzog asked Goldberg-Polin’s family—and to Goldberg-Polin himself—for forgiveness for his failure to secure his release.

“I apologize in the name of Israel… for failing to return you home in peace,” he said, according to CNN. “I’m sorry the state you migrated to when you were 7 years old … did not manage to keep you safe.” Goldberg-Polin was one of six hostages, all of whom were taken during the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, whose bodies were recovered in a tunnel under Rafah. According to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, they were killed shortly before Israeli forces could reach them alive.

“I’m sorry for the fact we couldn’t bring home your Hersh alive,” Herzog told Goldberg-Polin’s family. Most of Herzog’s eulogy was delivered in Hebrew. In English, he said, “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.”

In her eulogy, Goldberg-Polin’s mother, Rachel, said that she prays Hersh’s death will be a “turning point in this horrible situation.” Rachel Goldberg and her husband, Jon Polin, had worked tirelessly to advocate for their son’s release. She said it had become “absolutely certain” that he would return alive, but, in the end, “it was not meant to be.”

She named the five other hostages whose bodies were found alongside her son. “I take such comfort knowing you were with Carmel, Ori, Eden, Almog and Alex,” she said. “From what I have been told, they each were delightful in very different ways, and I think that is how the six of you managed to stay alive in unimaginable circumstances for so very long.”