At Plainview park renaming, Omer Neutra's family pleads for peace

The family of Omer Neutra, the Plainview native and Israeli soldier killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, attended a ceremony Sunday to rename a park in his honor where they also called on President Donald Trump to pressure Israel to end the war and work to free all remaining hostages.

"We ask you, President Trump, to put an end to the bloodshed in the Middle East, to bring all the hostages home, end the war and start healing of so much that has broke in the last two years," said Ronen Neutra, Omer’s father, at a renaming ceremony for the park along Marilyn Boulevard in Plainview where Omer Neutra spent many days playing basketball and learning to ride a bicycle as a child.

American and Israeli flags fluttered in the crisp end-of-summer breeze as several hundred community members and elected officials gathered around a newly painted basketball court emblazoned with Neutra’s name and high school jersey number, 24.

Ronen Neutra told those assembled "the Israeli government has far too often placed political divisions ahead of the lives of the 48 hostages, and we wait in agony and we can't wait any longer.

"President Trump made a commitment to bring the hostages home," Ronan Neutra continued, "and we hold him and all the leaders to those words," adding that Trump "understands it" and "is with us."

Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages when it attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. In the nearly two years of war since, more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed and 165,000 more wounded, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between fighters and noncombatants in their count. Israeli bombardment has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displacing about 90% of the population and causing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.

Neutra, a 21-year-old tank captain in the Israel Defense Forces, was originally believed to have been taken hostage, but his family learned in December he had been killed in the initial attack. While many hostages were released in swaps with Israel, 48 are believed to still be alive in captivity, with the bodies of dozens more — including Neutra’s — yet to be returned.

At Sunday’s ceremony, which came after Nassau County renamed a Plainview street for Neutra in April, loved ones described Neutra as a competitive athlete, funny friend and loving family member.

His mother, Orna Neutra, said being in the park where her son spent so many childhood days took her "back to a different lifetime."

"In this park, I see Omer. I see my boy, not the soldier, not the headlines. I see a boy full of mischief ... I hear his laughter," she said at the ceremony, hosted by Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino.

 Others in attendance included students from Schechter School of Long Island where Omer attended, Rabbi Joel Levenson of the Midway Jewish Center, actor and comedian Michael Rapaport, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman,  Assemb. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove), State Sen. Steven Rhoads (R-Bellmore) and other elected officials.

Neutra’s brother, Daniel, noted he is now older than Omer was when he died. 

"Soon, I will outgrow my big brother, and Hamas still has him," he said, calling for the release of all hostages and the bodies of the deceased. "Does anyone have a timetable, concept or a plan, a guess?"  

With AP