Hadar Goldin was born and raised in the communal settlement of Eshchar to Prof. Simcha Goldin, a professor of history at Tel Aviv University, and Dr. Leah Goldin, a lecturer in software engineering. He was born alongside his twin brother, Tzur, and has an older sister, Ayelet, and an older brother, Menachem. During his youth, Hadar was a member and leader in the Bnei Akiva youth movement. He completed his high school education at the Kfar Batya Sciences Yeshiva and studied at the Bnei David pre-military academy before enlisting in the army.
Hadar was a lieutenant at the IDF's Givati Brigade, a Jewish patriot, humanitarian and artist. Hadar was a remarkably gifted young man - a painter and graphic artist, a poet and an inspiration to all who knew him.
On the 1st of August 2014, during Operation Protective Edge (מבצע צוק איתן), two hours after Hamas agreed to a ceasefire, terrorists ambushed Israeli soldiers from a tunnel in the basement of a house in Gaza. The terrorists killed two of the soldiers; Hadar Goldin was one of them.
The Hamas organization continues to hold Hadar's body as a bargaining chip to extract political or military concessions in conflicts with Israel. Hamas is also holding the remains of Oron Shaul, another soldier killed in Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
The Goldin and Shaul families have experienced the pain of not only losing a beloved son in war, but the added agony of not being able to bury his remains in their hometowns where their sons grew up. The two families are committed to recovering their sons' bodies and giving them the decent burial they deserve in Israel.