A man holds the image of French-Israeli hostage Mia Schem on Oct.17, 2023. Photo by GIL COHEN MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images

By Jacob Kornbluh March 5, 2024

A freed Israeli hostage is expected to attend President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday in Washington, D.C., as talks continue for another hostage deal. 

Mia Schem, who was in captivity for 54 days and released in the last hostage deal on Nov. 30, is an invited guest of House Speaker Mike Johnson. The Republican speaker also invited the parents of Evan Gershkovich, a Jewish reporter for the Wall Street Journal who has been imprisoned in Russia for nearly a year. 

“We must continue to fight to get them home,” Johnson said in a statement.

Schem, a 21-year-old Israeli-French citizen, described her harrowing experience of being held in the home of civilians in a small room and being treated like ”an animal,” in interviews with Israeli TV networks. 

Her mother, Keren Scharf Schem, was invited by Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California, to be his guest at the State of the Union. 

Johnson also invited Orna Neutra, the mother of 22-year-old hostage Omar Neutra, who joined the Israeli army after graduating from the Solomon Schecter Yeshiva on Long Island. “I’m proud to stand with the Neutra family and call for all Americans to join us in demanding the release of Omer and all hostages held by Hamas,” Johnson said in a statement shared with the Forward.

The audience at Biden’s annual address will include at least another 16 relatives of American hostages. The families asked members of Congress to wear a yellow lapel ribbon or the “Bring them home” dog tags necklace as an expression of solidarity and to raise awareness about the hostage crisis. 

Orna Neutra said the family is “grateful” to the House Speaker for his “commitment to securing the release of our son, Omer, and the other Americans” being held captive by Hamas. “Our presence at the State of the Union is a reminder to the country of the urgency of the hostages’ plight,” she added.

The Biden administration has stepped up the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days, calling on Israel and Hamas to agree to the terms of a negotiated hostage-for-prisoner deal. The proposal outlined during talks held last week between an Israeli delegation and mediators from the United States, Qatar, and Egypt include the release of at least 40 hostages during a six-week phase and the entry of increased humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel provisionally accepted the framework, according to U.S. officials, but Hamas did not yet provide negotiators a clear answer. On Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris drew praise from the Democratic progressive base by calling for an “immediate ceasefire” to address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. 

In the statement about Schem’s invitation, Johnson accused Biden of “turning his back on our ally, Israel, at the very moment that our friends most need our support, and as hostages continue to be held captive by Hamas.”

Editor’s note: This post was updated to include Johnson’s statement on the invitation of the Neutra family.

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