Second gentleman Doug Emhoff is pictured at an occasion on Capitol Hill in February. On Tuesday, he spoke to the Adas Israel Congregation in regards to the hostages who have been just lately discovered killed within the Gaza Strip.
Alex Wong/Getty Photos
disguise caption
toggle caption
Alex Wong/Getty Photos
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff mentioned he’s “gutted” over the demise of six Israeli hostages killed by Hamas this week. Emhoff spoke on the nationwide vigil for the hostages at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
“It’s good to be collectively this night. There may be consolation in group,” Emhoff mentioned. “However standing on this bimah, I can solely be direct: That is laborious. I really feel uncooked. I’m gutted.”
He addressed the demise of Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whom militants seized at a music competition in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Goldberg-Polin, a local of Berkeley, Calif., misplaced a part of his left arm to a grenade within the assault. In April, a Hamas-issued video confirmed him alive, sparking new protests in Israel.
The Israeli army introduced on Sunday that it had recovered the our bodies of six hostages, together with Goldberg-Polin’s, in a tunnel within the Rafah space of the Gaza Strip. Israel’s well being ministry mentioned forensic examination confirmed they’d been killed in the previous couple of days.
The invention sparked protests over stalled cease-fire talks, and hundreds of individuals attended Goldberg-Polin’s funeral in Israel on Monday.
“On this second, I’m right here as a congregant, as a mourner, as a Jew who feels related to all of you and grateful for the steerage of our fantastic rabbis,” mentioned Emhoff, who has repeatedly spoken out about antisemitism in his roles as second gentleman. He mentioned he and Vice President Harris known as Goldberg-Polin’s dad and mom, Rachel and Jon, to precise condolences and speak about their son.
Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin spoke on the Democratic Nationwide Conference final month, the place they advocated for a cease-fire deal and the return of Hamas-held hostages.
Harris, when accepting the Democratic nomination for president, reiterated her perception in Israel’s proper to defend itself and known as on a right away cease-fire to halt the combating in Gaza so “Palestinian individuals can notice their proper to dignity, safety, freedom and self dedication.”
On Tuesday, Emhoff mentioned, “President Biden and Vice President Harris are working across the clock to get a hostage-and-ceasefire deal completed.”
