Father of Hamas captive at RNC: Trump told me he ‘stands with the American hostages’
Thousands greet Omer Neutra’s parents with chants of ‘Bring them home’; they similarly embrace Jewish Harvard alum suing school for failing to protect him against discrimination
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — Addressing the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Wednesday night, the father of an American-Israeli hostage held in Gaza said former US president Donald Trump had told him that “he stands with the American hostages.”
“President Trump told us personally right after the attack when Omer was taken captive. We know he stands with the American hostages,” said Ronen Neutra, who addressed the RNC alongside his wife Orna.
Trump has not offered extensive comment on the hostage component of the Israel-Hamas war, but he has several times expressed his belief that many of the captives are no longer alive.
The crowd of thousands greeted Ronen and Orna Neutra with chants of “Bring them home.”
Orna began her remarks by sharing a little bit about her son, Omer.
“He was born in New York City, one month after 9/11. Eight months pregnant, I walked across the Queensborough Bridge toward home that day. And here we are 23 years later, and he’s the victim of another vile terrorist attack,” she said.
Unlike in their appearances at events on the RNC sidelines earlier Wednesday, the Neutras did not call, in their convention speech, for the adoption of the hostage release and ceasefire deal currently on the table. That deal, backed by US President Joe Biden, wasn’t mentioned at all in their primetime remarks in front of Trump, the thousands at the Fiserv Forum arena and the millions watching at home.
Instead, Ronen used his remarks to stress how Hamas’s October 7 onslaught was just as much a domestic issue as it was a foreign policy issue for Republicans.
“During the brutal October 7 attack on Israel, over 1,200 people were slaughtered — of them, 45 were American citizens. Where is the outrage? This was not merely an attack on Israel. This was and remains an attack on Americans,” he said.
Related: US-Israeli hostage’s family fights to keep American public interested in fellow citizen
The Neutras spoke shortly after an address by Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard University graduate suing his alma mater, claiming it failed to protect Jewish students from discrimination over the past school year.
“After October 7, the world finally saw what I and so many Jewish students across this country experienced almost every day,” he said to a highly receptive crowd.
“Although I once voted for Bernie Sanders, I now recognize that the far left has not only abandoned the Jewish people, but the American people,” Kestenbaum said.
“Let’s elect a president who recognizes that although Harvard and the Ivy League have long abandoned the United States of America, the Jewish people never will. Because Jewish values are American values, and American values are Jewish values,” he added to cheers that nearly drowned him out.
Before Kestenbaum’s speech, the convention honored a group of fraternity brothers from the University of North Carolina who went viral for guarding an American flag during a hostile pro-Palestinian protest in April.
The theme for Wednesday night — the third night of the convention — was foreign policy, though most of the speeches focused on immigration.
Former Jewish Rep. Lee Zeldin stood out by sticking to the pre-determined theme, using the opportunity to excoriate Biden’s Middle East policy and hail that of Trump.
The night’s headliner was JD Vance, who issued a call for unity in his speech in which he accepted his party’s nomination to be its candidate for vice president.
“I want to respond to [Trump’s] call for unity myself. We have a big tent in this party on everything from national security to economic policy, but my message to you, my fellow Republicans, is we love this country and we are united to win,” he said.
The message appeared aimed at calming those in the party, including pro-Israel members, who have expressed concern over Vance’s more isolationist foreign policy views.
“I think our disagreements actually make us stronger. That’s what I’ve learned in my time in the United States Senate, where sometimes I persuade my colleagues and sometimes they persuade me,” he continued.
“My message to my fellow Americans — those watching from across the country — is [that you] should be governed by a party that is unafraid to debate ideas and come to the best solution. That’s the Republican Party of the next four years — united in our love in this country and committed to free speech and the open exchange of ideas,” Vance said.
Vance’s message contrasted starkly with the more combative one pushed by former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro, who was one of the night’s most warmly received speakers.
Navarro woke up Wednesday in a Miami federal prison. Hours later, he walked onstage in Milwaukee to an extended ovation after completing a four-month sentence for refusing to testify before Congress about Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“You folks just want to know if you can see my MAGA tattoo I got there,” he said jokingly before unleashing a string of attacks on Democrats.
He referred to “the Department of Injustice.” Some delegates chanted, “Let them go! Let them go!” in a reference to hundreds of people convicted for their parts in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
It was a surreal moment for a party that has long portrayed itself as a staunch defender of law and order. It also served as a fresh reminder of the legal troubles faced by Trump, who was convicted of a felony in May, as well as numerous aides, advisers and allies who have been indicted or imprisoned for violating the law in his service.
“If they can come for me, if they can come for Donald Trump — be careful, they will come for you,” he said.
Navarro’s dark vision stood in stark contrast to the unifying theme that Trump’s campaign has sought to exude during the four-day gathering.
AP contributed to this report.
