From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 19, 2026
A hidden tribute to Hersh Goldberg-Polin appears in Netflix series ‘The Diplomat’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
A tribute is made to the late Hersh Goldberg-Polin in the fourth season of the Netflix series “The Diplomat,” which premiered last week.
In the episode, the housekeeper at the US ambassador’s residence in London tells the ambassador’s closest aide about an American soldier named Hershel Polin who battled next to her father in Belgium during World War II and saved her father’s life by catching a live grenade and throwing it aside, losing his own limb in the process.
“He smashed it up and tossed it away, inches from his hand,” says Frances Munning, played by Penny Downie, in her conversation with Stuard Heyford, played by Ato Essandoh.
Munning tells Heyford that the soldier was from Richmond, Virginia.
The anecdote is set during the Second World War, but the tribute to Goldberg-Polin, who lived in Richmond, Virginia, with his family when he was a child, is unmistakable.
The story told by Munning is also a salute to Goldberg-Polin’s friend, the late Aner Shapira.
Goldberg-Polin and Shapira took shelter during the October 7 Hamas massacre at the Nova desert rave in a roadside shelter. As the terrorists began throwing grenades at the partygoers, they crowded into the shelter; Shapira caught and threw back seven grenades before the eighth grenade killed him. At some point in the attack on the shelter, the lower part of Goldberg-Polin’s dominant left arm was blown off, and he was abducted to Gaza.
In August 2024, Hersh was murdered in captivity alongside fellow hostages Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lubanov and Almog Sarusi.
“Several people told us about the episode yesterday, but we don’t watch TV, so we have not seen it,” says Hersh’s mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin. “It’s striking to know there are many people around the world trying to ensure the stories of the hostages are not whitewashed or erased.”
“The Diplomat,” starring Keri Russell, was created and written by Debora Cahn, a descendant of Holocaust survivors who has discussed how her Jewish heritage deeply influences her perspective on global affairs, storytelling, and international politics.
The Times of Israel Community.