Slain Israeli-American hostage remembered as ‘hero of Israel’ at NY memorial service

Hundreds of people on Tuesday packed into the pews at the Midway Jewish Center in Long Island, New York, for a memorial service for American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra, whose death at the hands of the Hamas terror group on October 7, 2023, was finally confirmed by the IDF after more than 400 days during which his family believed him to be captive — but alive.

Neutra, a so-called lone soldier from New York, served as a tank platoon commander in the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion. He was killed in battle with terrorists during the Hamas onslaught, the IDF said on Monday, and his body was taken from the Gaza border. His death was declared by the Military Rabbinate based on new findings and intelligence information.

Speaking at the memorial service in the synagogue where his son celebrated his bar mitzvah years earlier, Ronen Neutra said that he was at a loss for words.

After spending months telling his son’s story and pleading for his release at numerous rallies in the US and abroad, news of his death “left us breathless and empty,” he said.

“We spoke about you in so many places,” Ronen said. “Telling Omer’s story. The hostages’ story. We call on world leaders to save Omer, to save the others.”

“We were told Omer gave courageous commands to other soldiers and saved their lives,” Ronen said, recounting how his son had decided to uproot his life to serve the State of Israel. “‘It’s my turn to show my love to Israel in action and not just in words,’ Omer said. His memory must be a blessing. Rest in peace my boy, my beautiful son. We will never forget you, hero of Israel.”

“For over a year now, we’ve been breathing life into your being, my beautiful boy,” Orna Neutra, Omer’s mother, said through 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 any hint of despair, not stopping to breathe or to take in the deep pain of your absence.”

“I pled for a sign of life,” she said. “I didn’t get any. Instead, we received signs of hope and love from all over the world.”

“Now things are clear,” she told the packed service. “But not as we’d hoped.”

The couple have been a regular presence at protests in the US and Israel. They also addressed the Republican National Convention this year and maintained contact with outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration in their effort to secure Omer’s release.

Daniel Neutra, Omer’s younger brother, vowed the family would honor his life’s work by continuing to call for the release of the remaining hostages and an end to the war.

“It is too late for him, but it was not in vain,” he said.

Omer Neutra was born in Manhattan just weeks after the September 11, 2001, attacks, his parents recounted during the service, which was also attended by Governor Kathy Hochul and other local politicians.

The grandson of Holocaust survivors, he attended a Jewish school on Long Island where he was captain of the basketball, soccer and volleyball teams, they said.

He was offered admission to the State University of New York at Binghamton, but instead deferred, took a gap year and then moved to Israel to enlist in the army.

Ronen Neutra called Israel his son’s “true love” and said he had insisted on serving on the frontline. His unit was among the first to respond to Hamas’ October 7 invasion.

“You gave too much, too soon,” Orna Neutra said.

Neutra was one of seven American Israelis still held in Gaza, four of whom are now said to be dead. Hamas released a video of one, Edan Alexander, over the weekend, indicating he was still alive.

The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, another American-Israeli hostage killed by Hamas, sat alongside Omer’s parents during the memorial service. Goldberg-Polin’s body was retrieved by the IDF in late August after he was executed along with five other hostages.

US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden said in a statement Monday they were “devastated and outraged” to learn of Neutra’s death. They said he planned to return to college in the US 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 statement read.

Tel Aviv ceremony dedicated to Neutra

Thousands of miles away in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, hundreds gathered on Tuesday evening for a weekly program for the hostages dubbed Singing for their Return, which this week was dedicated to Neutra.

The program began with a recording from an Army Radio program several years ago, in which Neutra’s voice is heard as he called in to dedicate a song to his tank unit.

He was last seen injured, lying next to the tank that he commanded, at the Gaza border on the morning of the October 7 onslaught.

“It’s a small consolation that he didn’t experience long days in captivity,” said his aunt, Genia Tzohar, weeping.

“It’s sad to me that the nation of Israel that heard so much about you and waited to meet you, won’t get to do that,” Tzohar said, as she saluted him. “I hope and pray we will bring you back for burial in your beloved Israel.”

Tamar Tzohar, Neutra’s grandmother, spoke about her grandson’s early years, being born and raised in New York by his Israeli parents.

She said Omer’s parents last spoke with him on October 6, 2023, — a day before he was killed — when he told them that, after weeks of dealing with a steady stream of Hamas activity at the border with Gaza, his unit had been told it could lower its alert level and have a more relaxed weekend.

“We now have to fight to get Omer’s body back home,” said Tzohar.

It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023, remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015.

Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.