Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz turned out to be “a big disappointment,” the Goldin family charged upon learning that Israel had allowed the transfer into Gaza of $50 million in cash from Qatar to fund humanitarian projects and as grants to its impoverished population. “There is an unimaginable distance between his public statements and his actions,” said Leah and Simha Goldin. Their son Lt. Hadar Goldin, along with Sgt. Oron Shaul, are presumed to have been killed during the 2014 Gaza war. Hamas has held their bodies captives and also holds captives two Israeli citizens taken after the war; Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed. The Goldin family, which has spearheaded the campaign for the release of the bodies and the two Israeli citizens, have argued that Israel should halt all assistance to Gaza until Hamas releases the bodies and frees the two men. They have noted that Gantz has a special responsibility in this situation because he was the IDF Chief of Staff during the 2014 war. “Gantz promise both publicly and in private conversations with us, that as soon as he was in office, he would act to both the soldiers and the citizens held by Hamas,” the couple said. His actions, in this instance, “have been a disgrace,” they added. “Gantz served as the IDF Chief of Staff during ‘Operation Protective Edge’ and he as is the commander that left our son Hadar in Hamas captivity. Instead of holding to the IDF’s moral imperative of returning all the fighters from the battlefield, he has begun his term as Defense Minister by surrendering to Hamas,” the Goldin family said.
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