Syosset, NY — A Jewish community in a New York City suburb is mourning the death of a young Israeli American soldier who Israeli authorities believed was taken hostage following a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Funeral services for Omer Neutra are being held Tuesday at the synagogue on Long Island where the dual citizen of Israel and the United States grew up.
The Israeli military announced Monday that the 21-year-old was not captured by Hamas but was killed during the group’s surprise attack on the Nova Music Festival, which sparked the latest conflict in the Middle East. His body was moved to the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and remains there.
Neutra’s family hoped the Plainville native was still alive after he was ambushed and evacuated from his disabled tank while trying to defend Israel’s border from Hamas forces.
His parents, Ronen and Orna, have regularly attended protests in the United States and Israel.
The couple also spoke at this year’s Republican National Convention and stayed in touch with outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration in their campaign to secure their son’s release.
Neutra was born in Manhattan a month after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The grandson of a Holocaust survivor, he attended the Schechter School, a conservative Jewish school on Long Island, where he captained the basketball, soccer and volleyball teams.
He said his parents offered him admission to the State University of New York at Binghamton, but instead he deferred, took a gap year, and then moved to Israel to join the military.
