The fourth season of the Netflix series The Diplomat, which premiered last week, features a tribute to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the American-Israeli hostage who was murdered by Hamas terrorists while being held captive in Gaza.
In one scene, Frances Munning, a housekeeper at the US ambassador's residence in London, recounts the actions of an American soldier named Hershel Polin, who served alongside her father in Belgium during World War II.
According to Munning, the soldier saved her father's life when he intercepted a grenade and threw it away before it could explode, losing part of his arm in the incident. She also mentions that Polin came from Richmond, Virginia.
The fictional soldier's name, hometown, and injury all point to Goldberg-Polin, who spent part of his childhood in Richmond, Virginia.
The scene also references the heroism of Aner Shapira, Goldberg-Polin's friend, who was murdered during the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023.
The two were among those who sought refuge in a roadside bomb shelter after Hamas terrorists attacked the Nova music festival. As terrorists repeatedly threw grenades into the shelter, Shapira managed to intercept and throw back seven of them before being killed by an eighth.
During the attack, Goldberg-Polin lost the lower portion of his left arm and was subsequently abducted to the Gaza Strip.
He was murdered in Hamas captivity in August 2024, together with five other hostages: Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lubanov, and Almog Sarusi.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Hersh's mother, told the Times of Israel that the family had been informed about the tribute but had not watched the episode.
"Several people told us about the episode yesterday, but we don’t watch TV, so we have not seen it," she said. "It’s striking to know there are many people around the world trying to ensure the stories of the hostages are not whitewashed or erased."