Speaking to Jewish Republicans, parents of Omer Neutra say politicians are failing to bring the hostages home
The Neutras’ appearance was at least their second to Republican audiences
Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra. (Luke Tress)
(JTA) — LAS VEGAS — As the parents of Israeli hostage Omer Neutra took the stage at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual convention, the crowd rose to its feet, applauding and chanting “Bring them home.” Many in the crowd wore yellow ribbons and dog tags symbolizing the captives’ plight, a focus of the audience and speakers at the event.
Ronen Neutra, Omer’s father, opened his speech with a moment of mourning for the six captives executed by Hamas last week. The audience stood again, in total silence.
“May their memories be a blessing, and may we bring the rest of them home before it’s too late,” Ronen told the crowd.
The killings last week that wrought shock and grief in the Jewish world have made the rescue of their son via a hostage and ceasefire deal even more urgent, the Neutras said, an urgency they believe is lacking in political leaders, despite widespread commiseration. They appeared at the convention to tell their son’s story and issue a desperate plea for his return.
“It shouldn’t have happened,” Orna Neutra said in an interview about the executions. “This deal should have been sealed a long time ago.”
Ronen said, “It seems like it’s only urgent for the hostage families and of course all of the Israeli families and the Jewish world. Not for the politicians.”
The RJC convening was at least the second time that the Neutras traveled from their home in suburban New York to address a crowd of Republicans, after their appearance in July at the Republican National Convention. Their visibility in those circles is notable because Republican politicians have tended to be sympathetic to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under fire from large swaths of Israelis who say he is placing obstacles in front of a ceasefire deal that would bring the hostages home. Some Israelis believe that pressure from Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, could help convince Netanyahu to agree to a deal.
A deal “with the devil” Hamas would require painful sacrifices, Ronen Neutra said, acknowledging that “there’s no good deal when 240 people were taken.” But he lashed political leaders for bickering about a deal’s terms, and a sense of complacency the couple felt from politicians.
“It’s been dragging and dragging, and constantly there’s a pull and push from all sides to get a better deal, and adding this and adding that,” he said.
“What else needs to happen for the politicians to say, ‘Enough is enough?’” he said.
Omer Neutra is one of seven Americans still held in Gaza. In their speech to the convention, the couple described their son’s upbringing on Long Island, including his education at the Schechter School of Long Island, how he captained the school’s basketball, volleyball and soccer teams, and spent his summers at Jewish camp. After high school, he planned to attend Binghamton University, but took a gap year in Israel first, where he decided to enlist in the IDF.
He was stationed with his tank unit on the Gaza border on Oct. 7. The night before, Omer spoke with Orna, telling her the border was quiet and he was relaxed. When news of the attack surfaced the next morning, the couple frantically texted their son but never got an answer.
The speech at the RJC conference came as the Neutras assume the unwanted mantle of most prominent American hostage parents. Among those executed last week was Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old hostage whose American-Israeli parents had become the de facto global public face of the movement to bring the hostages home, speaking last month at the Democratic National Convention. Now, Omer Neutra is perhaps the best-known American captive among the seven remaining in Gaza.
At the RJC conference, Ronen Neutra — who said the Goldberg-Polins had “become like family” through the ordeal — pleaded for bipartisan support and thanked the Biden administration for its efforts to free their son.
“We realize we are speaking today and that this is a political gathering, but this is not a political issue. It is a dire humanitarian issue, and we need all hands on deck,” he told the crowd. Goldberg-Polin’s parents delivered a similar message at the Democratic convention.
“Omer and the other 100 hostages are running out of time. The news of this weekend makes that abundantly clear,” he said.
The couple described how their sorrow suffused every moment – how every ping to their phones makes their hearts leap, how every meal makes them wonder if their son had food, how every knock on their door leaves them paralyzed in fear.
“When the sun is shining, we question whether Omer is in a dark, stuffy tunnel, struggling to breathe,” Orna said.
Despite the Neutras’ plea, politicians at the event repeatedly blamed the Biden administration for failing to secure the captives’ return.
“Biden and Kamala Harris threatened Netanyahu and withheld weapons to stop him from going into Rafah. Maybe if they hadn’t impeded Israel’s advance, maybe these innocent lives would be alive today,” said Florida Sen. Rick Scott from the stage.
Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a staunch advocate for the hostages, said the “ugly truth” was that the Biden administration had not deployed the military to rescue the American hostages because “one, those Americans were in Israel, and two, those Americans are Jewish.”
Biden has said that his administration is working around the clock to try to secure a deal. He and other U.S. officials have criticized both Netanyahu and Hamas for their handling of talks, saying this week that Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure the hostages’ release and that Hamas has escalated its demands related to the security prisoners Israel would release under a deal.
Ernst acknowledged the hostage families’ criticism of Netanyahu, saying, “There will be a reckoning” between Netanyahu and the captives’ relatives.
RJC CEO Matt Brooks accused Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, of “blaming Israel for the killing of the hostages.”
Republican leaders and attendees said they believed an assertive foreign policy under a Trump administration would more effectively free the hostages.
Bentzion Levinson, an attendee based in Los Angeles, said freeing the hostages would come via “peace through strength,” a foreign policy approach voiced by speakers at the convention that has also been endorsed in the past by Netanyahu. U.S. adversaries such as Iran would be cowed by a Trump administration, which would weaken Hamas and cause them to free the hostages, he said.
“If he’s elected, they’re going to want to let them free because they’re afraid of him,” Levinson said. “Right now, the U.S., and in some sense, Israel, are not respected.”
Gary Rubenstein, another attendee, said he expects Trump would pressure Qatar and Egypt to in turn press Hamas for their release. (Biden’s Justice Department this week announced charges against Hamas leaders, in a sign that the administration is ramping up pressure on Qatar, which has allowed some of them to live there.)
“I think you can work other angles, other than just going through Israel. It’s not always ‘bad Israel,’” said Rubenstein, a business owner from California.
Trump opened his address to the convention, delivered remotely, by mourning the execution of Goldberg-Polin and vowing retribution.
“We are all devastated by the horrific death of our fellow American, Hersh Goldberg-Polin,” Trump said. Addressing Goldberg-Polin’s family, he said, “We pray that God will grant you comfort, healing and peace.”
He added, “And as for the evil savages responsible for these murders, may they never know peace or comfort ever again.”
The Neutras said they have had direct access to the Biden administration, thanking the White House for its support.
“They’ve been very open and candid with us, and we highly appreciate the fact that we communicate that often,” Ronen said, adding that they have received more support from the White House than from the Israeli government.
The family has also been in touch with the Trump team. They are not directly in touch with Trump, but the former president called them to express his sympathy shortly after Oct. 7. The family will work with whatever administration takes office in January 2025, if their son is still held in Gaza, they said.
“We don’t care. We are not selective,” Ronen said. “Anybody who’s willing to hear our plight, we’ll tell our story and we’ll ask for help because this is what any parent would do for his son, plead for their life and do whatever it takes.”
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