New York – The crowded hall of the Republican National Convention (RNC) chanted, “Bring them home” on Wednesday night as Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of 22-year-old Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra, took to the stage, asking for support to end the crisis and return the remaining 120 hostages.
At the beginning of her remarks, Orna said, “Our son Omer is an American citizen. For 285 long days and nights, Hamas terrorists have been holding Omer in prison in tunnels underneath Gaza. Omer, which is a biblical name that means... the first crop, is our firstborn.”
Moreover, before the convention began, she punctuated that “Omer was born in New York City in 2001. This was one month after 9/11. I was eight months pregnant, crossing over the Queensboro Bridge, trying to get home from the city with Omer in my belly, just trying to get him out of harm’s way. And it’s just insane that 23 years later, he was caught in this vile terrorist attack.”
Orna described her son as a connector and told the crowd how he is a natural-born leader and captain of his high school soccer, volleyball, and basketball teams.
She said he cares deeply about others and about helping them grow.
“He turned 22 on October 14, 2023,” she said. “And instead of celebrating with us and with his friends, he spent his birthday as the hostage of Hamas terrorists.”
Imagine not knowing whether your son is alive for over nine months now; that you are waking up every morning, praying that he too is still waking up each day; and “that he is strong and is surviving,” she urged.
Where was the outrage?
Ronen asked the crowd where was the outrage that over 1,200 people were slaughtered on October 7, including 45 American citizens.
“This was not merely an attack on Israel. This was and remains an attack on Americans,” Ronen said.
He further mentioned that Trump called them personally right after their son was taken captive on October 7.“We know he stands with American hostages,” Ronen said. “We need our beautiful son back, and we need your support.”
In addition, participants at the RNC were shown footage of Hamas’s attack on Israel as well as images displaying the extent and gravity of Iran’s missile strike on the Jewish state in April to make the case that the country still faces danger because of the alleged weakness of Democratic US President Joe Biden.
Notably, Trump did stipulate that had he been president during the October 7 massacre, it would have been prevented outright. But he has not since addressed the matter in depth, although he has said that, in his opinion, only a few hostages were still alive.
Ron Kampeas and JTA contributed to this report.