Parents of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin speak up about latest deal to get him home

Rachel Goldberg:Well, this is the first deal that has actually had the blessing of the four parties who are in the room when the conversations are happening, meaning Qatar and Egypt both have said this is actually a deal that Hamas should be open to. It is really, as Jon mentioned, I think, the chance for Hamas to answer the world that has been really crying out for the innocent Gazan civilians who are suffering horribly in this conflict. This is a chance for that suffering to end, and so that is what is unique about this particular moment.

Goldberg:Well, we personally are not privy to the details of the actual deal. We have heard that it asks Israel to do a lot of painful things and that Prime Minister Netanyahu has leaned in to say and has given the mandate to the negotiators to do things that are terribly difficult for Israel. We are proud that that is even being bandied about, that’s even being an option, which we had not heard of previously. We’ve even heard voices within Prime Minister Netanyahu’s own party saying we must do this, and that is unique as well. 

Jon Polin: I actually want to correct or point out one word that you used, which is confidence. I don’t know if Rachel used that word, but I certainly have not used the word. We are saying that it seems to be that there is a deal blessed by four parties, but I’m not sure that either of us would say that we have confidence. It’s been 188 days, and one thing that that has done for us is say we have no reason to be confident because we’ve learned from 188 days that they are up-and-down cycles, and so far, the deal we’ve all been hoping for has not happened.

Polin:Our expectation of the US government has been to support the cause of the whole region, but specifically, we’ve gone to them through the lens of the hostages. It’s important to point out that 44 United States citizens were killed on the morning of Oct. 7. There are still eight US citizens being held hostage, three of whom are unfortunately pronounced no longer alive. This is an issue that is very much directly impacted on the United States and by the United States. Rachel frequently talks about the breadth and depth of the population who’s being held, which is also important to point out here because while it’s been the United States that has been steadfastly by the side of the hostages for 188 days, there are nine Argentinians, some significant number of German citizens, Mexicans, French, Thai, Nepalese, citizens from around the world. We’re still scratching our heads on day 188, wondering where the world leaders from all of those countries with citizens are being held. Why are they not standing arm-in-arm with Israel and the United States to say, let’s get these hostages home, and by doing so, it will have a calming effect on the entire region?

Goldberg: We definitely have felt tremendous support from the United States, from the administration, Congress, everyone in the US government who we have encountered. You know, this certainly is an issue that everyone in the United States government feels is unjust. America does not stand for people being stolen and dragged from their beds and held hostage. This is such a unique and strange cohort of people being held. The youngest, of course, is Kfir Bibas, who has spent the last six months in captivity. He’s now 14 months old, actually 15 months old now, and the oldest is an 86-year-old grandfather. As Jon mentioned, and I am constantly saying, I think we do an injustice when we erase populations that are also being held. There are eight Muslim Arabs being held. There are seven Thai Buddhists being held. There are two Black African Christians being held. We rarely hear about many of the hostages who are being held, who seem to be different from the narrative that a lot of people want to create when discussing this hostage issue.

Jon Polin: So, from the 105 hostages who were released on days 49 through 55, I believe, we heard nothing. There were no reports of sightings of Hersh. Nobody recognized his name. What we did sort of learn from that first round of release is hostages who arrived early in the morning and were wounded were generally taken for some medical treatment. So, we have reason to believe that Hersh would have been taken to a hospital and had his amputated arm given some treatment, possibly even surgery, if so, possibly by a veterinarian. At this point, what the Israeli government shares with families of hostages is basically one of three things: When they know that a hostage is no longer alive, they announce that to the family, when they have a high suspicion that a hostage is no longer alive, they share that with the family and otherwise they share nothing, and we’re told no news is good news.

Goldberg: Well, Hersh is a laid-back, happy-go-lucky, curious citizen of the world. He has been obsessed with geography and learning about different countries and different people since he was in first grade with a magnificent teacher who sort of lit that spark of passion. He has been involved in the last six years in a coexistence youth group that brings together Arabs and Jews in Israel through the medium of soccer to sort of demystify the other. He has friends who are all from a wide array of diverse textures, colors and beliefs. And he’s just curious and respectful, and he’s also very funny.

Polin: Well, every morning, still, the first choice we make is to get out of bed and continue. The temptation sometimes, oftentimes, is just to stay in bed or, as Rachel has said, curl up in a ball and cry. But we know that that is not productive. We know that that’s not going to lead to bringing home Hersh and all the hostages. So, we have to get up and we have to start the fight again every day. What I’ve been saying lately is, in addition to just simply needing to get up because we have to do that to bring home the hostages, as time passes, we’ve gone from having tens to hundreds to thousands to now what feels like millions of supporters around the world, literally all religions, all ages, and we feel like we are now part of a broad team that is working to do this, and we cannot let the team down. Staying in bed and giving up would let the team down. That’s not an option.

Goldberg: Well, thankfully they are resilient, but we are in an ambiguous, slow-motion trauma. So, it is, “How do you continue to go forward while in the midst of profound trauma?” Look, they’re both getting help in ways that are obvious and some ways that are not obvious. People have been so generous, kind, thoughtful and creative in helping them. And by helping them, it’s helping us because, you know, we can’t be 100% the parents that we used to be able to be because we are broken. We’re continuing to walk forward, but we are broken. I mean, I say at least once a day, I think of Winston Churchill saying, “[If] you’re going through hell, keep [going].” And so, with our girls, oftentimes I feel bad that I feel that they’re being maternal to me when I really should be the one being maternal to them. But I’m also proud of them for having it in them to do that.

Goldberg: Well, it’s hard to even think about what the plans would be. All I think about is that that will be the happiest day of the rest of our lives. No matter what else happens, no matter what else happens in the rest of our lives, and we should all be privileged to live to be 120 and have wonderful, happy, healthy, long lives. But that day will be the happiest day of the rest of our lives.

Polin: Hersh is a pretty quiet, modest, private person. And so, we say when he gets home, he’s going to be very upset with us and his fans around the world who have his face plastered in so many places, literally around the world. And we say, “Bring it on, Hersh. We’ll take that anger. We’ll deal with it. Please bring it on today.”