Netanyahu ‘Begs for Forgiveness’ as Israeli-American Hostage Laid to Rest

The Israeli-American hostage killed by Hamas was laid to rest on Monday, after his body was discovered by the Israeli military along with five other hostages who had been killed.

“We failed you, we all failed you. You would not have failed you,” said his father, Jon. “Maybe your death is the stone, the fuel, that will bring home the 101 other hostages.”

The funeral took place following a general strike and national protests over the hostage deaths.

Later on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference during which he said he was “begging for forgiveness” for not bringing the hostages home alive.

“We were close, but we didn’t achieve it,” he said. “And I would like to repeat once again this evening, Israel will not move on to our normal agenda after that massacre. Hamas will pay a very heavy price for it.”

Thousands of people thronged a Jerusalem cemetery to pay their respects to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, whose face became one of the most recognizable symbols of the hostage crisis.

Mourners massed around the car as the family left their home in Jerusalem, and crowds, many hoisting Israeli flags or dressed in the colors of Goldberg-Polin’s favorite soccer team, lined a major thoroughfare in Jerusalem as the car headed to the cemetery.

Mourners laid wreaths at the foot of his coffin and sang a prayer.

Many in the crowd erupted in sobs as his mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, said goodbye to her son and told him, “Finally, finally, finally you are free!”

She and her husband shared stories of their son, who they said was funny, curious and relentless in the pursuit of justice.

They said they hoped his death might at least be a turning point in drawn-out negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release.

“Sorry Hersh, sorry we couldn’t bring you back alive,” Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said in a eulogy.

Israel’s military announced Sunday that the bodies of Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages had been discovered in an underground tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.

Goldberg-Polin, of Berkeley, California, was attending a music festival when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage.

His U.S.-born parents became two of the most high-profile relatives of hostages on the international stage.

During their fight to free their son, they met with U.S. President Joe Biden, Pope Francis, addressed the United Nations, and spoke at the Democratic National Convention, urging the release of all hostages.

President Biden on Monday said Netanyahu is not doing enough to get a hostage deal and ceasefire.

Biden was speaking to reporters outside the White House ahead of meeting the US hostage deal negotiating team alongside Vice President Kamala Harris.

Biden also told reporters that the team was “very close” to presenting a final hostage deal to Israel and Hamas.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press