SYOSSET, N.Y. (AP) — For greater than a yr, Ronen and Orna Neutra have held out hope that their son Omer was alive after being captured by Hamas throughout its assault on Israel final Oct. 7.
However Monday, the Israeli navy acknowledged the painful reality: The 21-year-old, actually, had not been taken hostage, however was killed within the group’s shock assault on the Nova Music Pageant that sparked the newest battle within the Center East.
A picture of Omer Neutra is displayed at his memorial service Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, on the Halfway Jewish Middle in Syosset, N.Y. (AP Picture/Philip Marcelo)
Talking at a memorial service Tuesday on the Lengthy Island synagogue the place his son celebrated his bar mitzvah years earlier, Ronen Neutra mentioned he was confused.
“For over a year now, we’ve been breathing life into your being, my beautiful boy,” Orna Neutra, the younger man’s mom, mentioned by way of tears. “With the hope and love of so many, we kept going and going and going, keeping you alive, speaking your name from every outlet, pushing [away] any hint of despair, not stopping to breathe or to take in the deep pain of your absence.”
Orna and Ronen Neutra, the mother and father of Omer Neutra, converse on the Halfway Jewish Middle on Lengthy Island throughout a memorial service for his or her son, a fallen Israeli American soldier, on December 3, 2024, in Syosset, N.Y. (Picture by Spencer Platt/Getty Photographs)
“Now things are clear,” she instructed the packed service on the Halfway Jewish Middle in Syosset. “But not as we’d hoped.”
The couple have been an everyday presence at protests within the U.S. and Israel. In addition they addressed the Republican Nationwide Conference this yr and maintained contact with outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration of their effort to safe their son’s launch.
Family and friends attend a memorial for Israeli tank commander Omer Neutra, who was a US citizen, in Syosset, N.Y., on December 3, 2024. (Picture by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)
Daniel Neutra, Omer’s youthful brother, vowed the household would proceed to honor his sibling’s life’s work by persevering with to name for the discharge of the remaining hostages and an finish to the warfare.
“It is too late for him,” he mentioned, “but it was not in vain.”
Omer Neutra was born in Manhattan simply weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, assaults, his mother and father recounted in the course of the service, which was additionally attended by Gov. Kathy Hochul and different native politicians.
The grandson of Holocaust survivors, he attended a Jewish faculty on Lengthy Island the place he was captain of the basketball, soccer and volleyball groups, they mentioned.
Household, associates, politicians and members of the native Jewish group collect on the Halfway Jewish Middle on Lengthy Island for a memorial service for Israeli American soldier Omer Neutra on December 3, 2024 in Syosset. (Picture by Spencer Platt/Getty Photographs)
Omer was supplied admission to the State College of New York at Binghamton, however as an alternative deferred, taking a niche yr after which transferring to Israel to enlist within the military.
Ronen Neutra known as Israel his son’s “true love” and mentioned Omer had insisted on serving on the entrance line. His unit was among the many first to answer Hamas’ Oct. 7 huge terrorist assault.
“You gave too much, too soon,” Orna Neutra mentioned of her son.
Household, associates, politicians and members of the native Jewish group collect on the Halfway Jewish Middle on Lengthy Island for a memorial service for Israeli American soldier Omer Neutra. (Picture by Spencer Platt/Getty Photographs)
The Israel Protection Forces haven’t mentioned how they decided that Neutra died within the assault and was not taken hostage, as initially thought. His physique has been held in Gaza since Oct. 7.
However Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his spouse, Sara Netanyahu, mentioned in a joint assertion that Omer “fought fiercely at the head of his soldiers” to defend Israeli settlements “until he fell.”
Household, associates, politicians, and members of the native Jewish group gathered for a memorial service for Israeli American soldier Omer Neutra on Lengthy Island. (Picture by Spencer Platt/Getty Photographs)
They added that they “will not rest or be silent” till his physique is recovered from the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Biden and First Girl Jill Biden mentioned in a press release Monday they had been “devastated and outraged” to study of Neutra’s dying. They mentioned the younger Israeli American had deliberate to return to varsity within the U.S. and “dreamed of dedicating himself to building peace.”
“To all the families of those still held hostage: We see you. We are with you. And I will not stop working to bring your loved ones back home where they belong,” the assertion reads.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (middle) attends a memorial service for Israeli tank commander Omer Neutra, who was a U.S. citizen, in Syosset, N.Y., on Tuesday. (Picture by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)
Hamas-led fighters took round 250 hostages after they stormed into southern Israel final October, whereas killing round 1,200 individuals, largely civilians.
Some 100 captives are nonetheless held inside Gaza, with round two-thirds believed to be alive.
Neutra was considered one of seven American Israelis nonetheless held in Gaza, 4 of whom are actually mentioned to be useless. Hamas launched a video of 1, Edan Alexander, over the weekend, indicating he was nonetheless alive.
Initially Revealed: December 3, 2024 at 5:06 PM EST
