Mother of missing soldier: State you died for isn’t helping to bring you back

The mother of a soldier determined to have been killed in the 2014 Gaza War whose body is being held by the Hamas terror group said at a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday that the state was not doing enough to return her son’s body.

“Oron, my beloved, I have to tell you that the state that you went out to defend has not made it easy for me to bring you back,” the Hebrew-language Ynet news site quoted Oron Shaul’s mother Zehava Shaul as saying.

At the ceremony in the northern village of Poria Illit, which was attended by former IDF chief Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz and Golani Brigade Commander Shlomi Binder, Zehava Shaul also said she had not been given all the answers about what happened to her son.

“Over 1,000 days have gone by with you in Hamas captivity and I do not know what happened to you. There is no heartbreak or pain greater than that,” she said.

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Oron Shaul, a soldier in the Golani Brigade, was in an armored personnel carrier that was hit by an anti-tank missile prior to the capture of his body. Six other soldiers were killed in the incident.

Since his body was captured by Hamas in July 2014, his family has waged a public campaign for the return of his remains, including by setting up protest tents outside of the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem.

Last month, his family petitioned the High Court of Justice for information about why the army declared him dead, seeking the release of the protocol of the discussions used to determine Oron’s death.

Despite the failure to retrieve Oron’s body, Zehava Shaul held out hope he would soon be returned and vowed to continue working toward that goal.

“I believe that soon we will succeed in bringing you back,” she said, adding, “Oron my son, you know that I will never stop working to return you to us.”

At the official Memorial Day ceremony at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to returning the body of Oron Shaul, as well as that of Hadar Goldin, another soldier who the IDF determined was killed in action in the 2014 Gaza War and whose remains are held by Hamas.

In a separate ceremony in the central Israeli city of Kfar Saba, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked promised Goldin’s parents that their son would be brought home.

“Leah and Simcha Goldin, we love you, you are heroes. We will bring Hadar home,” Channel 10 quoted her as saying.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.