Frustrated kin of Americans missing in Israel demand Biden help them

The frustrated kin of four missing Americans feared kidnapped by Hamas demanded Tuesday that President Biden tell them what is being done to help bring their loved ones back home.

“I think after more than three days now it is more than a reasonable request to have somebody from the Israeli government or the US administration approach us with any type of information,” said Nahar Neta, whose Californian-born mom, Adrienne, 66, is among the US citizens unaccounted for after Saturday’s sneak deadly blitz of Israel by the Palestinian terror group.

Neta, joined by the other families at a press conference in Tel Aviv, argued the US government has a responsibility to bring back its citizens “safe and sound.

“We expect nothing less from the US administration, from President Biden and Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken,” he said.

Hamas is believed to have about 150 hostages. It is unclear how many Americans are being held, but National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at a briefing Tuesday that a total of 20 Americans are still missing in the conflict.

Ruby Chen, who is originally from New York, said his 19-year-old son, Itay, a dual US-Israeli citizen, went missing Saturday while serving in the Israeli army along the Gaza border.

Chen, who hasn’t heard from his son since his unit started being attacked, begged the US “not to take a back seat” in trying to locate hostages.

“The US has a lot of resources at its attention. It is able to do many things that can be different than the Israelis can do,” Chen said during the press conference.

“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.”

He added that there had been no attempt from the US government so far to update the relatives of missing citizens.

“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,” Chen said.

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose 35-year-old son Sagui vanished from the Nir Oz kibbutz on Saturday, pleaded with the US 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 Dekel-Chen, who grew up in Connecticut.

“What we’ve witnessed — this kind of savagery, this kind of inhumanity — must be stopped,” he said. “And as a result, like the other five people on this stage who would prefer to be anywhere but here right now, do appeal to the United States government, to the Congress, to do what they can on the side of good here.”

The mom of 23-year-old Hersh Golberg-Polin, the American-Israeli whose arm was blown off when Hamas terrorists started their slaughter at a desert rave, said she hadn’t heard anything from him since she received two texts early Saturday — including one saying, “I love you.”

Rachel Goldberg, whose family moved from California to Israel in 2008, said she learned from eyewitnesses that her son was “injured in a gun battle.”

“They were fish in a barrel, sitting in this bomb shelter,” she said of her son and fellow festival-goers.

“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.”

Her son was then hauled away on the back of a truck by Hamas, Goldberg said.

Neta fought back tears as he recalled being on the phone with his mom, who was born and raised in Fresno, when the terrorists barged into her home in Be’eri in southern Israel on Saturday. 

“We heard a little bit of screaming, and that was our last contact with her,” he said.

“It is our hope, which is a little bit ridiculous at this stage to say, that the optimistic scenario here is that she’s held hostage in Gaza and not dead on the street of the kibbutz where we grew up,” the son said.

Biden on Tuesday voiced concern for those Americans being held hostage by the Iranian-backed Islamist group and said he directed his team to share intelligence to help with hostage recovery efforts.

“As president I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world,” Biden said during a briefing at the White House.

The death toll has soared to more than 1,100 — including 14 American citizens — in Israel and 830 in Palestinian territory.

The White House on Monday confirmed that it had begun delivering critically needed munitions and military equipment to Israel and that the Pentagon was reviewing its inventories to see what else can be sent quickly to boost its ally in the war against Hamas.

“Our hearts may be broken but our resolve is clear,” Biden said. “Let there be no doubt. The United States has Israel’s back. We’ll make sure the Jewish and democratic state of Israel can defend itself today, tomorrow as we always have.”

With Post wires