The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli American who was held hostage by the militant group Hamas, laid their son to rest Monday after the deaths of six hostages sparked mass protests in Israel.
“We failed you. We all failed you,” Goldberg-Polin’s father, Jon Polin, said at the funeral. “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.”
After the Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages over the weekend, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets, pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal.
Roughly 250 hostages were taken captive in Hamas’s surprise assault on Israel last October. Hersh’s parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, became symbols of the efforts to free hostages as they advocated for their son, a Berkeley, Calif., native who had just turned 23.
President Biden said Sunday that he is “devastated and outraged” by the deaths and vowed Hamas “will pay.”
“I have worked tirelessly to bring their beloved Hersh safely to them and am heartbroken by the news of his death,” Biden said of the family in a statement. “It is as tragic as it is reprehensible. Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes.”
A White House official told The Hill that Biden spoke with the parents, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention last month, to offer condolences about the death of their son. The president also said Monday that Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure a hostage deal.
In the nearly 11 months of fighting since Hamas’s October attack left more than 1,100 people dead, Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, according to local health officials.
Netanyahu sought forgiveness from the hostages’ families Monday as he faces pressure for not securing the release of remaining hostages.
“I told the families, and I repeat and say this evening: I am asking for your forgiveness that we didn’t manage to bring them back alive. We were very close, but we couldn’t make it,” Netanyahu said during a Monday press conference, according to a CNN translation. He promised Hamas “will pay a heavy price” for the deaths.
The Associated Press contributed.