Suozzi Honors the Memory of Omer Neutra, his Constituent, with Moving Speech on House Floor
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December 3, 2024
Washington, DC - This evening, Congressman Tom Suozzi (D - Long Island, Queens) delivered a moving one-minute speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives honoring the memory of Omer Neutra, his constituent, whose death was announced by the Israeli military on Monday. Neutra, from Plainview, was initially thought to have been taken alive by Hamas during the terror attack on October 7, 2023 but was, in fact, killed that day.
Suozzi’s floor speech can be viewed here.
The transcript of Suozzi’s floor speech is below:
· Eight years ago, I met a 14-year-old Solomon Schechter School freshman at the local Salute to Israel event at the Sid Jacobson JCC on Long Island. His name was Omer Neutra. When I met Omer’s parents, Ronen and Orna Neutra, in December 2023, they described Omer as a “likable” “big, goofy kid,” who excelled in sports, and who other kids liked to be around. After graduating from Solomon Schechter School, Omer, whose grandparents were Holocaust survivors, decided that before going to Binghamton University, he would join the Israel Defense Forces. Instead of just staying for a year, he worked his way up to become a tank commander.
· On October 7th, 2023, Omer was a victim of the surprise attack by the Hamas terrorists.
· For 420 days, Omer’s parents, and his brother Daniel, have done everything they can, with the love and support of hundreds of thousands of others, to free their son from captivity. Every day, they soldiered on through alternating deep sorrow and brief bursts of hopefulness. They went from crushing anxiety to steely determination…
· Yesterday morning, we learned that this young man, this bright light, this courageous idealist, … made the ultimate sacrifice. Omer has not been alive for the past 422 days. He was murdered on October 7th.
· Now all of his family’s alternating emotions have been replaced with deep grief. We who know them, grieve with them. We thank God for the gift of his life. We pray for the Neutras. And tonight, we rededicate ourselves to Omer’s just cause. We resolve to move forward, guided by his example, his courage, and his memory.
· May his memory be a blessing, Am Yisrael Chai!
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Omer Neutra, a New York native from Plainview, Long Island, was presumed to be one of 251 hostages taken during the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. On Monday, December 2, 2024, the Israeli military announced that Omer Neutra had, in fact, been killed on October 7, 2023. Another 1,200 men, women, and children were killed in the attacks that day.
Neutra moved to Israel when he was 18 to join the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during a gap year, his parents, Orna and Ronen, said in a video shared by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
A member of the IDF's tank brigade, he was protecting a village on Israel's southern border on the day of the attacks.
Suozzi first met the Neutra family, including Omer and his younger brother, Daniel, on May 16, 2016 at Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center’s Salute to Israel.
Omer Neutra graduated from the Schechter School of Long Island in Williston Park in 2019. An avid athlete, he captained the basketball, volleyball, and soccer teams and led his youth group, USY.
In December 2023, in Tel Aviv, Suozzi met with Omer's parents, constituents Ronen and Orna Neutra from Plainview. Ronen and Orna Neutra were Suozzi's guests at President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union Address.