JERUSALEM, Israel – A difficult day in Israel as one of the most well-known of the Hamas-held hostages in Gaza – Hersh Goldberg-Polin – was laid to rest just days after his brutal murder and that of five other hostages at the hands of Hamas, deep in a tunnel below Rafah.
Thousands of Israelis streamed to Hersh’s Jerusalem funeral in disbelief that he was really gone. His mother Rachel spoke to her slain son.
“I know you’re right here. I just have to teach myself how to feel you in a different way,” she said. “And Hersh, there’s one last thing I need you to do for us. Now, I need you to help us stay strong, and I need you to help us survive.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the funeral of the dual U.S.-Israeli citizen who had become a symbol of the battle to free the hostages. “How sorry I am that we didn’t protect Hersh on that dark day,” Herzog apologized. “How sorry I am that we failed to bring him home.”
The president added, “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.”
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