Goldin Family Commemorates First Memorial Day with Hadar at Home
Goldin was killed in 2014 during Operation Protective Edge while operating in Rafah. His body was held by Hamas terrorists for over 11 years before being recovered and returned to Israel in November 2025.
The family of Lt. Hadar Goldin said this year’s Remembrance Day is the first they have been able to mark with a sense of closure, more than a decade after he was killed and his remains held in Gaza.
Goldin was killed in 2014 during Operation Protective Edge while operating in Rafah. His body was held by Hamas terrorists for over 11 years before being recovered and returned to Israel in November 2025.
Speaking to KAN Reshet Bet, his sister Ayelet Goldin-Kaufman said the family is experiencing a mix of emotions following the return and burial.
“For so many years we stood on Memorial Day and didn’t know where my brother was,” she said. “Now that he is here, the intensity is very strong.”
She described a sense of relief alongside the pain, saying this is the first time the family feels it can function as a bereaved family in the full sense.
Goldin-Kaufman said the return of her brother’s remains has brought a feeling of “exaltation and excitement,” while also making the finality of his death more tangible after years of uncertainty.
“It’s still hard to put into words,” she said. “But there is also a deep gratitude for the people who worked to bring him back.”
Goldin was laid to rest at Kfar Saba Military Cemetery following the recovery of his remains. The return ended years of advocacy by his family and public campaigns calling for his release.
Goldin-Kaufman also noted the passage of time within the family, saying she became a grandmother three months ago. The newborn, she said, is the son of her eldest child, who served in the same Givati Brigade reconnaissance unit as Hadar.
“Life continues,” she said. “He is not here to answer us, but he is still with us.”