Simcha Goldin: Israel ‘abandoned’ Hadar for 11 years, ‘became addicted to money, honor, power’

Simcha Goldin, the father of fallen soldier Hadar Goldin, eulogizes his son at his funeral.

Goldin describes the way his sone was able to connect with people. He says Hadar didn’t swear and didn’t allow his soldiers to use foul language. He saw it as a weakness, and Goldin asks the audience to take that upon themselves.

“Through all our tears, always remember Hadar’s smile — we have no choice but to continue his path. I ask you to act like Hadar, and gain a little more Hadar,” he says, a play on the name which in Hebrew means splendor.

“In Hadar’s prayer book, he would recite a daily prayer: ‘Grant our hearts to see the virtues of our friends and not their flaws,’” he says. “Accept Hadar’s words, and apply them to yourselves.”

Goldin says that over the past 11 years, “we abandoned him in the enemy’s captivity.” The nation, he says, “became addicted to money, honor, and power.”

שמחה גולדין והרמטכ״ל אייל זמיר pic.twitter.com/sG8UJJFdSG

— ישראל כהן (@Israelcohen911) November 11, 2025

“We, the Goldin family, saw the great moral decline through Hadar’s abandonment. We failed to convince Israeli society — until Simchat Torah, October 7,” he says. “Hadar said that to win, one must have understanding, ability, and will — and that is exactly what the fighters, men and women, have shown in the past two years.”

“They brought Hadar back to Israel and now there are no more empty graves in the Kfar Saba cemetery,” says Goldin.

With tears, he salutes his son.

Goldin calls for building what he says is the kind of army Israel needs, made up of every kind of Israeli — Jewish and Druze and Bedouin and religious and secular “and of course Haredim.”

“We’re behind you, good luck to you and to us.”