The families of four American citizens who are missing and may be hostages after last weekend’s terrorist attacks in Israel are calling on the U.S. leaders to take action to locate their loved ones and to work for their release.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Nahar Neta, whose 66-year-old California-born mother Adriene Neta was hauled off by Hamas terrorists on Saturday, said that President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are “responsible to bring the U.S. citizens back home safe and sound. We expect nothing less from the U.S. administration.”
Rubin Chen, who grew up in New York City and whose son Itay Chen, an Israeli soldier, is missing, said he is “asking the U.S. not to take a back seat.”
“The U.S. has a lot of resources at its attention. It is able to do many things that can be different than the Israelis can do,” he said. “And we are asking on behalf of my family, for President Biden, where we are sure his heart is in the right place when it comes to Israel, and secretary of state, to do what they can to make this end for us as soon as possible.”
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, who grew up in Connecticut, and whose son Sagui Dekel-Chen is missing after defending his community over the weekend, appealed to U.S. leaders to “do what they can on the side of good here.”
“It seems to me that the United States, my original home and still a very beloved place for me, always wants to be and must be on the side of good. Hamas is evil,” said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, a self-described “peacenik.” “This kind of savagery, this kind of inhumanity, must be stopped.”
Israel is pounding the Gaza Strip with airstrikes as Israeli soldiers amass at the border. Hamas terrorists have threatened to kill a hostage every time an Israeli bomb strikes a Palestinian home without warning. Hamas has about 150 hostages, according to reports.
Rubi Chen said that there has been no formal attempt by the U.S. government to update the families of missing Americans. “I think it is a legit request for a representative from the State Department to sit with us, update us on what they have been doing, what they are planning to do, and to be able to support us,” he said.
Likewise, Nahar Neta said they’ve had “zero communication from the Israeli government.”
“I think after three days, more than three days now, it is more than a reasonable request to have somebody from the Israeli government or the U.S. administration approach us with any type of information that they may have on their family members,” he said.
Rachel Goldberg started the press conference off talking about her son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was born in California and who moved with his family to Israel in 2008. She knew that he was “camping somewhere” with friends on Saturday when the sirens first blared. She now knows the 23-year-old was at the music festival attacked by Hamas terrorists.
After she and her daughters emerged from their bomb shelter in Jerusalem on Saturday morning, she turned on her phone and saw two texts from Hersh, one that said “I love you,” and one that said “I’m sorry.”
He has not answered any calls or returned any messages since then. They’ve since learned that he was with a group that gathered in a shelter that was attacked by Hamas terrorists.
“We know that he was injured in a gun battle,” she said, noting that it wasn’t really a battle and that “they were all civilians at a music festival.”
“They were fish in a barrel, sitting in this bomb shelter,” she said. “Terrorists came to the door, they were throwing grenades in, shooting machine guns. We know Hersh’s arm from the elbow down was severed, was blown off, and that he tied a tourniquet around with his shirt. And Hamas came off after the gunfire settled down and said, ‘Anyone who can walk, stand up and walk out.’ We are told that he was completely calm. I think he was probably in shock.”
Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other festival-goers “were put on a pickup truck and driven away by Hamas,” Rachel Goldberg said.
Jon Polin, Hersh’s father, described his son as a “smiley, fun-loving guy,” who loves traveling, and who has been saving money to go on a big trip at the end of the year.
Nahar Neta said his California-born mother is a “66-year-old lady,” a “proud mother,” and a nurse and midwife who “devoted her life to helping other people of all races and genders.”
He and his siblings where talking with her Saturday morning when Hamas terrorist barged into her home, he said.
“We heard a bit of screaming, and that was our last contact with her,” Nahar Neta said. “There was no shooting on the call, and the neighbors downstairs also didn’t hear any shooting.”
He said his mom used the Arabic she picked up while working as a nurse to calm the terrorists.
“It is our hope, which is a little bit ridiculous at this stage to say, but the optimistic scenario is that she’s held hostage in Gaza and not dead on the street,” he said.
Iana Neta, Adriene Neta’s daughter, described her mom as “an exceptional human being.”
“When she walked into a delivery room, she saw a human being in front of her. Not a religion. Not a race. Not a hijab. Not an Orthodox Jew,” Iana Neta said.
Rubi Chen said his son, Itay, was working at his base last weekend so that he could be home for his younger brother’s Bar Mitzvah this coming weekend.
He last had contact with his son on Saturday morning when Hamas terrorists attacked.
“We kneow that he was active, that he was in communication for a while. But since then, silence,” Rubi Chen said. “The formal indication that we’ve received from the [Israel Defense Forces] is he is defined as missing in action.”
He called for the Hamas terrorists to treat his son as a “POW should be treated, according to international law.”
Jonathan Dekel-Chen said his son, Sagui Dekel-Chen, is missing after he defended his community from the terrorist attack on Saturday morning. “Hundreds of heavily-armed, well-organized terrorists walked, rode, ran over the border with on object in mind, and that is to kill, maim, and destroy civilian life along the border,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen said.
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, is a father of two daughters, whose wife is pregnant with his third child.
“We are waiting for Sagui to come home,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen said.
Rubi Chen said they’ve identified about ten other families of Americans who are also missing or who have been taken hostage after Saturday’s terrorist attacks.