Singer Idan Amedi blasts government handling of hostages, at Goldin funeral

Idan Amedi, an Israeli singer-songwriter, actor and reserve soldier who was seriously injured while fighting in Gaza, eulogizes fallen soldier Hadar Goldin at his funeral.

Amedi describes meeting Hadar’s father Simcha nearly 10 years ago, and joining the family’s struggle to bring Hadar’s body home.

“We thought [official] people were sitting in a room, figuring out how to bring back hostages. We learned we were wrong,” says Amedi.

He says the family thought that the Israeli government saw the return of captives as an Israeli and Jewish value, but learned that it did not.

“They looked at us with empty eyes,” says Amedi. “Some said it’s important but not strategic, some said the bigger picture is more complex, some said we don’t go to war over dead bodies.”

He laments that aid and money were given to the Gazans with Goldin’s body still held hostage.

“Hamas opened its hands for everything, and prepared for a massacre, and we put the foot on the gas,” says Amedi.

He said that the Goldins, months before October 7, told members of the government that the taking of the next hostages wasn’t a question of “if” but “when.”

“October 7 was a failure,” says Amedi. “It wasn’t a disaster. A car accident is a disaster. All the signs were written on the wall.”

הדקה הזאת של עידן עמדי מדבר צריכה להיות העדות הראשונה בוועדת החקירה הממלכתית שתקום כאן. צפו: pic.twitter.com/j031sgeWCb

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He says that rehabilitation can happen when the trauma and crisis are recognized, when mistakes aren’t swept under the rug, when the internal errors are investigated and fixed.

At the end of his eulogy, Amedi sings “It’s Over,” which he wrote six years ago and which he says he has sung with the Goldins many times over the years.