Second gentleman Doug Emhoff says he is 'gutted' at a vigil for Israeli hostages

By Ximena Bustillo

Published September 4, 2024 at 11:41 AM EDT

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff is pictured at an event on Capitol Hill in February. On Tuesday, he spoke to the Adas Israel Congregation about the hostages who were recently found killed in the Gaza Strip.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff said he is “gutted” over the death of six Israeli hostages killed by Hamas this week. Emhoff spoke at the national vigil for the hostages at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

“It is good to be together this evening. There is comfort in community,” Emhoff said. “But standing on this bimah, I can only be direct: This is hard. I feel raw. I’m gutted.”

He addressed the death of Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whom militants seized at a music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Goldberg-Polin, a native of Berkeley, Calif., lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack. In April, a Hamas-issued video showed him alive, sparking new protests in Israel.

The Israeli military announced on Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages, including Goldberg-Polin’s, in a tunnel in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip. Israel's health ministry said forensic examination showed they had been killed in the last few days.

The discovery sparked protests over stalled cease-fire talks, and thousands of people attended Goldberg-Polin’s funeral in Israel on Monday.

“In this moment, I’m here as a congregant, as a mourner, as a Jew who feels connected to all of you and grateful for the guidance of our wonderful rabbis,” said Emhoff, who has regularly spoken out about antisemitism in his roles as second gentleman. He said he and Vice President Harris called Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Rachel and Jon, to express condolences and talk about their son.

Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin spoke at the Democratic National Convention last month, where they advocated for a cease-fire deal and the return of Hamas-held hostages.

Harris, when accepting the Democratic nomination for president, reiterated her belief in Israel’s right to defend itself and called on an immediate cease-fire to halt the fighting in Gaza so "Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self determination."

On Tuesday, Emhoff said, “President Biden and Vice President Harris are working around the clock to get a hostage-and-ceasefire deal done.”