Ron and Orna Neutra, parents of Omer, a dual Israeli-American citizen who is currently held hostage in Gaza, shared Wednesday their feelings following the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and also spoke about their thoughts on how Donald Trump’s return to the White House might impact the potential release of their son, who holds American citizenship.
An interview with Ronen and Orna Neutra, Omer Neutra's parents
(Video: Lior Sharon)
"We feel very anxious. Firing a defense minister at a time of war is obviously anxiety-inducing and specifically Minister Gallant who has been an advocate for our son who is a soldier and for the hostages. And who has been claiming for months that the situation in Gaza has reached a point where getting out the hostages and reaching an agreement is a top priority morally and the situation on the ground is ripe for a deal. And so him being fired right now leaves us, you know, with a lot of anxiety about the future and about the future of our child."
What are your thoughts after the dismission?
"Our son was born here in New York, made a decision to immigrate to Israel, become Oleh Chadash, a new immigrant. He became a lone soldier. He was fighting for Israel as a true Zionist and now for close to 400 days, we've been fighting to get him back together with the other hostages."
"Minister Gallant was a real ambassador for us in the government. In his absence, we are very concerned that Netanyahu's government is not completely focused on bringing the hostages and leaving them behind for so long knowing that they are dying there. And that's very concerning to us. And we urge the Israeli government to do everything in its power now and work with the new administration and President Biden until he leaves office to finish the war and bring the hostages back. It's time it's long overdue."
Yes, you mentioned President Biden. Let's talk about the presidential election you have both ties with the Democratic and Republican parties with both parties. Will Trump as a president will bring us closer maybe to a deal?
"Well, Trump has already said that he would really like to see the war in Gaza end by the time he's inaugurated. And we see this as a window of opportunity where we have a president that is an outgoing president that would want to instill his legacy. This has always been important to Biden. The release of the hostages has been something that he's been working on tirelessly for the whole year. And we really hope that both administrations, the incoming and the outgoing work together to get this done."
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