A year of agony for the Neutra family
Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of Omer who has been held hostage by Hamas terrorists, speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
This guest essay reflects the views of Eric Post, director of the Long Island regional office of American Jewish Committee.
Before Oct. 7, 2023, I had met Ronen and Orna Neutra once.
I knew they were members of my synagogue, friends of several of our board members, and had a son serving as a soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces.
I would have liked to have gotten to know the Neutras over time, possibly over a Shabbat meal or programs at our synagogue. However, I — along with Long Island and much of our nation — came to know them for all the wrong reasons.
The Neutras’ firstborn son Omer, an IDF tank commander near the Gaza border, was taken captive after Hamas terrorists launched a brutal assault on Israel on Oct. 7, when 1,200 people were savagely murdered and 250 kidnapped and taken hostage.
Omer, who will turn 23 on Oct. 14, is one of 101 remaining hostages held by Hamas in dank, narrow tunnels underneath Gaza, one of four American hostages believed to still be alive.
The daily phone calls Ronen and Orna had with Omer before Oct. 7 have been replaced by an excruciating silence. But still they believe he will return to his childhood home in Plainview, that they will hug him and never let him go, and that he will return to Madison Square Garden with his dad to watch his beloved Knicks.
These are the things any parent would believe. Thinking anything else is unfathomable.
Getting all the hostages out of Gaza must remain a top priority. There can be no lasting ceasefire until all are released. The Biden administration made their plight the centerpiece of a three-phase proposal released in May that could not only end the war, but deliver relief to beleaguered Gazans victimized by a terrorist regime using them as human shields.
Israel has accepted the proposal. Hamas’ recalcitrance to agree remains the lone obstacle toward opening a path to peace. But the IDF is not in the business of waiting, as it made clear last week when it killed the leader of Hezbollah, which has launched daily attacks on Israel from Lebanon since Oct. 7.
On several occasions the IDF has liberated hostages, including a daring daytime operation in June that freed four. Those fleeting moments of good news have been punctured by tragedy, most recently on Sept. 1, when six hostages — including Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin — were found, apparently executed by their Hamas captors just before IDF forces reached them.
Their senseless murders are one reason I am in awe of the Neutras. They remain nothing if not resolute. They have crisscrossed the U.S. and the world several times over speaking to public officials, at synagogues, rallies, and news conferences. As Orna has said, they’ll talk to anyone if it means getting their son home.
They put on the bravest of fronts when they spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, wearing what have become familiar black T-shirts with Omer’s photo on the front.
"Imagine ... not knowing whether your son is alive, waking up every morning praying that he, too, is still waking up every morning, that he is strong and surviving," Orna told the rapt crowd.
No, we can’t imagine that, even though the Neutras have let us share their pain. The agony of what each day may — or may not — bring is theirs alone.
As we begin a new year on the Jewish calendar, let it be the one where Omer is finally back home again. That’s something we should all imagine.
This guest essay reflects the views of Eric Post, director of the Long Island regional office of American Jewish Committee.