Parents of US-Israeli hostage address RNC: Oct. 7 an attack on Americans, not just Israel

MILWAUKEE — Addressing the Republican National Convention, the father of an American-Israeli hostage held in Gaza says former president Donald Trump told him that “he stands with the American hostages.”

Trump has not offered extensive comment on the hostage component of the Israel-Hamas war, but he has said several times his belief that many of the captives are no longer alive.

“President Trump told us personally right after the attack when Omer was taken captive. We know he stands with the American hostages,” says Ronen Neutra who addresses the RNC alongside his wife Orna.

The crowd of thousands greets the couple with chants of “Bring them home.”

Orna begins 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 says.

Unlike their appearances at events on the RNC sidelines earlier today, the Neutras do not call for the adoption of the hostage release and ceasefire deal currently on the table. That deal backed by US President Joe Biden isn’t mentioned at all.

Instead, Ronen uses his remarks to stress how Hamas’s October 7 onslaught is just as much a domestic as it is a foreign policy issue for those in the Milwaukee arena.

“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 says.