Orna and Ronen Neutra at Kibbutz Nirim in January, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
By Benyamin Cohen
December 3, 2024
New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered flags on state buildings be flown at half-mast on Tuesday, in memory of Long Island native Omer Neutra.
The American-Israeli 21-year-old, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, was believed to be alive and held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. But on Monday, the Israeli military said it discovered proof that Neutra was killed during the initial attack that began the war — on Oct. 7, 2023 — and his body was dragged into Gaza, where it remains.
“The grief is heavy,” the Neutra family said in a statement Monday, calling the ordeal “an unimaginable nightmare.”
Ronen and Orna Neutra are well-known to the American public, having spoken about their son and the hostages at the Republican National Convention in July. During his acceptance speech at the RNC, former President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to Hamas about the hostages: “They better be back before I assume office, or you will be paying a very big price.” After hearing of Omer Neutra’s death, President-elect Trump issued an ultimatum on Monday to Hamas to release the hostages before he takes office or face severe consequences. The statement, posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, came after the families of American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza urged Trump to help finalize a hostage-ceasefire deal before inauguration.
“If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States,” Trump wrote, “there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity.”
The funeral service for Neutra is taking place Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. ET at the Midway Jewish Center on Long Island, and can be streamed here.
Neutra, a lifelong New York Knicks fan, deferred his acceptance to Binghamton University to spend a gap year in Israel before he joined the Israel Defense Forces. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, said her “heart breaks” for the family “as they face this unbearable loss. But I am also filled with pride in the life that Omer lived. His heroism and sacrifice will never be forgotten, and I will not rest until his body is returned home.”
The Neutra family will sit shiva on Long Island.
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