American Israeli family of Hamas hostage to address RNC urging unity to secure release

The parents of an American Israeli being held in Gaza are lobbying Republican lawmakers and supporters at this week’s convention in Milwaukee to exercise any influence and pressure to get Hamas to release the estimated 120 hostages held since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. 

Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of 22-year-old Omer Neutra, spoke to The Hill by phone ahead of their address at the Republican National Convention set to take place Wednesday night.

“We are aware that we’re getting closer to the elections and as such, the different parties are pulling in different directions. But we urge everybody to work together,” said Ronen Neutra.

President Biden has said that Israel and Hamas have accepted in principle a three-phase cease-fire deal — first announced at the end of May — but are still discussing the pathway to implementation.

“We are calling on the two parties and the administration to work hand in hand, put the pressure on all the parties involved, to make sure that they reach a deal now. It’s urgent. People are dying there. There is a real opportunity on the table,” Neutra said.

The Neutras last spoke with their son on Oct. 6, the day before Hamas’s attack, and have received no information on him over the course of the nearly 300 days of his captivity.

Omer Neutra is one of eight Americans still held in Gaza and believed to be alive. An Israeli soldier, he was kidnapped from his tank near the border with the strip during Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7. 

Omer turned 22 in Hamas captivity. He joined the Israeli army after graduating high school on Long Island, deferring enrollment at Binghamton University. 

“We’re dual citizens of the United States in Israel. We have a large family in Israel. Both of our fathers are Holocaust survivors. So Omer grew up on those stories, and the narrative of a strong Israel that needs to exist in order for the Jewish people to have a home,” Orna said.

“And he felt that before he was going to go to college, he should also help support and do his share,” Orna continued. “And on that day he was on the border and he was a first responder to the attack and was probably one of the first to be taken captive.”

The Neutras said their mission at the GOP convention is to make sure that the “hostages are kept front and center.”

An opening prayer at the convention conducted by Leora Levy, a Jewish Republican from Connecticut, called to “remember and pray for freedom for the hostages kidnapped and held so cruelly against their will. Lord, please keep them in your sight and hasten the day of their freedom.”

But former President Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, and his newly announced running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have said little on a pathway to secure the release of the hostages, focusing instead on a call for Israel to “finish the job” of defeating Hamas. 

While Biden has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to the cease-fire proposal, Netanyahu’s critics have accused the prime minister of prioritizing the military operation against Hamas over a deal to secure the hostages’ release. 

Netanyahu is set to address Congress on July 24, a speech that has deepened divisions between Republicans and Democrats on U.S. policy toward Israel, with some Democrats planning to boycott the speech. They blame Netanyahu for the high death toll of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip over the course of more than nine months of war against Hamas. 

The Neutras, stressing that they are nonpolitical, said that it is important for Netanyahu to announce that there is a cease-fire deal when he comes to the U.S. next week. 

“If he comes without a deal, the issue of the hostages must be the top priority,” Ronen said. 

“And we’re going to make sure that this topic will be on top of people’s minds next week as well.”