Mother of slain IDF soldier whose body was abducted by Hezbollah meets hostage families at Nahariya rally

NAHARIYA — About 200 protesters holding Israeli flags and yellow ribbons stand at the Nahariya junction in northern Israel.

“We can’t let our indifference kill the hostages,” says Micki Goldwasser, whose son, Ehud Goldwasser, an Israeli soldier, was abducted in Israel by Hezbollah with Eldad Regev in July 2006, sparking the 2006 Lebanon War.

She introduces herself to Yehuda Beinin, whose daughter, Liat Atzili, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. She was released on November 29 as part of a weeklong ceasefire deal.

Goldwasser says she can relate to Beinin’s situation, “But my son didn’t come back.”

The bodies of Goldwasser and Regev were returned to Israel in a 2008 Israel–Hezbollah prisoner exchange.

“Nothing’s changed since 2006,” Goldwasser tells The Times of Israel. “Back then, there wasn’t even budget for a camera at a critical point on the northern border.”

She says, “People were there for me then and now I’m here for others.”

Speaking at the rally, Beinin, who talked to US President Joe Biden after his daughter was released from Hamas captivity, says, “It’s not the Americans’ job to change the government in Israel, it’s our job.”

The rally ends with the singing of the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikva.”