Time magazine’s list of the top 100 most influential people of 2024 includes the mother of Israel hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken hostage along with hundreds of others by Hamas in Gaza on October 7.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin was recognized by Time for her prominent advocacy efforts for the hostages and their families, engaging with numerous global leaders, including President Biden, and speaking at the U.N. in both New York and Geneva.
“I want to thank TIME for my inclusion on the TIME100 and for recognizing the significance and gravity of the hostage crisis and the need for the world to advocate on their behalf until each one is returned home,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin told Arutz Sheva.
“I pray this platform will help compel the world not to forsake these remaining 133 souls, who hail from 25 countries, 5 religions and range in age from 15 months to 86 years old, and who have now been held captive in Gaza for 194 days. We must not turn a blind eye to the suffering of these human beings, along with the suffering of all innocents in Gaza,” she said.
In a social media video of the October 7 attack, the 23-year-old dual American-Israeli citizen can be seen being loaded onto a truck by Hamas terrorists, having lost part of his left arm from the elbow down. Since then, his family has received no updates on his condition.
