One by one, the members of the Security Cabinet stopped their cars beside the protest led by the parents of soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul on the morning of June 29. These families wanted to convince the ministers to oppose the reconciliation agreement with Turkey. The public and political fight against the agreement was launched by the families as soon as they realized that the agreement would not include the return from Hamas the remains of the two soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
As they made their way to the Cabinet meeting in the prime minister’s office, the ministers got out of their cars, spoke with the families, and embraced them. It was obvious to everyone involved that at that stage, the chances that the agreement would not be approved were meager. The agreement was indeed approved.
The criticism and rage that the families later voiced toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are comprehensible, at least on an emotional level. In addition to the terrible tragedy that they already faced with their sons' deaths, they are now being forced to contend with another burden: the ongoing struggle to have the remains of their loved ones returned to them. Nevertheless, there is something confusing about their demands that if Hamas refuses to return the remains, the ministers must stop everything and withdraw their support for the reconciliation agreement with Turkey, which is so vital to Israel’s diplomatic and security interests.
Simcha Goldin, the father of Lt. Hadar Goldin, described the approval of the agreement without the return of the bodies as “a huge failure, and the prime minister bears responsibility for it. He sent our sons into Gaza, so he is responsible to get them out.” In media interviews, Goldin said that in his meetings with Netanyahu, the prime minister assured him that any deal involving Gaza would include the return of the soldiers’ bodies, but, “He did not keep his word. More than one minister told me that particular clause was part of the earlier talks, but that it was dropped.”
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