Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told colleagues in a closed forum that the bodies of IDF soldiers killed and abducted in Operation Protective Edge would not be included in a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, Channel 10 News reported. Lieberman denies the statements attributed to him. However, the mother of one such soldier, Mrs. Leah Goldin, whose son Lt. Hadar was killed and abducted by Gaza, has words for the senior minister.

Mrs. Goldin was interviewed by Kalman Lipskind of Galei Yisrael Radio, stating Lieberman’s words hit her hard, adding that his words as a Defense Minister are unprecedented. Mrs. Goldin calls the statements attributed to Lieberman a “knife in the heart”. She feels that Mr. Lieberman has lost his moral right to send troops into battle, adding “The essence of the sentence that begins ‘the bodies will not be returned’ is immoral and illegitimate. A Defense Minister that makes such a statement has no moral mandate to send troops into battle”.

Joining the audible critics of Lieberman is opposition leader MK Yitzchak Herzog, who added he spoke with Dr. Goldin, and he strengthens the family beyond any and all political discourse.

Herzog adds “we are dealing with a cruel enemy and I suggest to the Defense Minister to stop speaking, in inner rooms as well as publicly. The return of bodies has been a command since the establishment of the state. We must stop selling illusions and know how to look at reality and stop hurting families”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)