‘Agony. Pain. There are no words’: President Herzog asks for forgiveness from four slain Israeli hostages

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

President Isaac Herzog asks forgiveness from the four slain Israeli hostages for not protecting them or bringing them back to Israel alive.

“Agony. Pain. There are no words,” says Herzog on X. “Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters.”

“On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness,” he writes, immediately after Israel puts out a statement that it has received the four coffins from the Red Cross. “Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.”

“May their memory be a blessing,” concludes the president.

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