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It has been 4,000 days since Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old Israeli soldier and budding artist, was ambushed and killed by Hamas terrorists during a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza.
His remains have never been returned.
For his mother, Leah Goldin, the passage of time has only deepened the urgency. In a wide-ranging interview marking the grim milestone, she thanked President Donald Trump and his advisors for their efforts so far— and asked for them to ensure that no ceasefire, normalization deal or regional agreement moves forward without the return of her son.
“We are turning to and hoping that President Trump and his people — who understand this issue — will recognize that the real victory over Iran is to bring everyone home immediately and unconditionally. Hadar is a symbol, and the Saudis must make this demand on their side, because you can’t speak of normalization while we remain in a state of abnormality.
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“These deals are a bluff — and this selective process is horrific. It’s killing the families and the hostages. The further we go without bringing everyone back and ending this awful war, the more Hadar Goldins there will be. It’s unbearable.”
Hadar Goldin was born to a prominent family of educators and raised on values of faith, service and compassion. Hadar was known for his gentle character, sharp intellect and deep artistic talent. He had just gotten engaged. In his free time, he drew portraits, wrote poetry and taught children with disabilities.
He was serving in the elite Givati Brigade when, on Aug. 1, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, Hamas violated a ceasefire — agreed upon hours earlier with U.S. and U.N. mediation — by launching a surprise attack. Hadar was killed and dragged into a tunnel inside Gaza.
For his mother, that moment shattered not only her family’s world, but also what she calls “the Israeli military’s sacred code.”
“The IDF’s ethos is never to leave a soldier behind,” she said. “But on August 28, 2014, Israel signed a ceasefire with Hamas without demanding Hadar’s return. That broke something fundamental.”
Over the past decade, Leah Goldin has met with world leaders, lawmakers and military officials across the U.S. and Europe, seeking justice for her son and others like him. She points to U.N. Security Council Resolution 2474, passed in 2019, which obligates all parties to an armed conflict to return the remains of the dead as a humanitarian act and confidence-building measure.
“This is international law,” she said. “And yet Hadar is still in Gaza.”
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Goldin credits the Trump administration for taking the issue seriously. “When the resolution passed in 2019, it was Trump’s people — Jason Greenblatt, Nikki Haley — who led the way,” she said.
Today, Goldin sees a rare opportunity — a convergence of diplomatic efforts with Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Gaza — to demand Hadar’s return before any agreements are finalized.
“Saudi Arabia has enormous leverage,” she said. “They’re leading the Islamic world. If they want normalization with Israel, then let them demand the return of Hadar and all of the hostages as a gesture of goodwill.”
She also praised Steve Witkoff, a Trump envoy on both Iran and Saudi issues, and urged him to connect the dots. “He’s in charge of the deals. He knows the hostages matter. Don’t say you’ll finish the business and deal with the hostages later. That’s immoral.”
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Goldin says she has lost trust in the Israeli government, which she believes has repeatedly sidelined her son for political convenience. “It’s the same people for 11 years, just in different chairs,” she said. “They sign ceasefires, they release terrorists — but leave Hadar behind.”
Since Hamas’ October 7 massacre, Leah and her family have taken on a new role: advising and supporting the families of current hostages through the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, a group they helped build in the days after the attack.
“My son Tzur, who also served in special forces, said no family should go through this alone,” she said. “So we organized — gave them our contacts, our tools, our lessons. But it’s painful. Because we’ve seen this before. And we know how easy it is to be forgotten.”
She calls the ongoing hostage negotiations “a nightmare of selection,” where some are prioritized and others left behind. “As a daughter of Holocaust survivors, this feels like moral collapse,” she said.
Goldin says she will not stop until Hadar — and all the hostages — come home.
“Hadar is not just my son,” she said. “He’s a symbol now. And in every ceasefire, in every backroom deal, in every ‘business as usual’ moment — I want the world to remember his name.”
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