Rachel Goldberg-Polin | |
Birth Name: | Rachel Goldberg |
Birth Date: | 1969 or 1970 |
Occupation: | Activist |
Known For: | Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis activism |
Spouse: | Jonathan Polin |
Native Name: | רייצ׳ל גולדברג-פולין |
Native Name Lang: | he |
Rachel Goldberg-Polin (; born 1969 or 1970) is an American-Israeli activist, primarily focused on resolving the hostage crisis which began with the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. She began her activism after her son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was abducted by Hamas while attending the Re’im Music Festival.
Goldberg-Polin's son, Hersh, was kidnapped and abducted to the Gaza Strip during the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.[1] Following her son's abduction, she quit her job[2] to focus full-time on working towards freeing the hostages, and has since spoken to both political authorities and media organizations, including the BBC,[3] CBS,[4] NBC,[5] and The Wall Street Journal.[6] Specifically, she has called for the Israeli government to negotiate a hostage deal and has criticized leaders for "not doing enough" to bring the hostages home.[7] [8] In daily life, she has attempted to draw attention to the hostage crisis by putting tape on her clothing, on which she writes the number of days since October 7.[9]
On November 14, 2023, she attended the March for Israel rally in Washington, D.C., where she spoke about the plight of the 240 hostages.[10] In December 2023, she gave a seven-minute speech at the United Nations in Geneva.[11]
In February 2024, Goldberg-Polin and 11 other hostage families met with the Pope.[12] In early April 2024, Goldberg-Polin, her husband, and other family members of hostages met with United States Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan, to urge action on a hostage deal.[13]
She was named as one of the Time 100 in April 2024.
Rachel Goldberg was raised in Chicago.
Goldberg-Polin, her husband, Jonathan, and their three children moved to Israel in the early 2000s. They have lived in Jerusalem since 2008. She is an observant Jew who keeps kosher.