SYOSSET, N.Y. (AP) — For more than a year, Ronen and Orna Neutra have held out hope that their son Omer was alive after being captured by Hamas during its attack on Israel last Oct. 7.
But Monday, the Israeli military acknowledged the painful truth: The 21-year-old, in fact, had not been taken hostage, but was killed in the group’s surprise attack on the Nova Music Festival that sparked the latest conflict in the Middle East.
Speaking at a memorial service Tuesday at the Long Island synagogue where his son celebrated his bar mitzvah years earlier, Ronen Neutra said 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 U.S. and abroad, news of Omer’s death “left us breathless and empty,” he said.
“For over a year now, we’ve been breathing life into your being, my beautiful boy,” Orna Neutra, the young man’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 [away] any hint of despair, not stopping to breathe or to take in the deep pain of your absence.”
“Now things are clear,” she told the packed service at the Midway Jewish Center in Syosset. “But not as we’d hoped.”
The couple have been a regular presence at protests in the U.S. 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 their son’s release.
Daniel Neutra, Omer’s younger brother, vowed the family would continue to honor his sibling’s 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,” he said, “but it was not in vain.”
Omer Neutra was born in Manhattan just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, his parents recounted during the service, which was also attended by Gov. 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.
Omer was offered admission to the State University of New York at Binghamton, but instead deferred, taking a gap year and then moving to Israel to enlist in the army.
Ronen Neutra called Israel his son’s “true love” and said Omer had insisted on serving on the front line. His unit was among the first to respond to Hamas’ Oct. 7 massive terrorist assault.
“You gave too much, too soon,” Orna Neutra said of her son.
The Israel Defense Forces have not said how they determined that Neutra died in the attack and was not taken hostage, as initially thought. His body has been held in Gaza since Oct. 7.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu, said in a joint statement that Omer “fought fiercely at the head of his soldiers” to defend Israeli settlements “until he fell.”
They added that they “will not rest or be silent” until his body is recovered from the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden said in a statement Monday they were “devastated and outraged” to learn of Neutra’s death. They said the young Israeli American had planned to return to college in the U.S. 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 reads.
Hamas-led fighters took around 250 hostages when they stormed into southern Israel last October, while killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Some 100 captives are still held inside Gaza, with around two-thirds believed to be alive.
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.