MILWAUKEE — A dominant chant at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday was “Fight!” — what President Donald Trump said when he rose after an assassination attempt last week, and what many convention attendees believe is needed to secure a strong future for the United States.
But for a few moments on Wednesday, another mantra took center stage: “Bring them home!”
The chant was led by Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of Omer Neutra, a hostage and a dual Israeli-American citizen held by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7.
“This was not merely an attack on Israel; this was and remains an attack on Americans,” Ronen Neutra said, noting that 45 of the 1,200 people murdered on Oct. 7 were Americans, as are eight of the remaining hostages, five of them thought to be living.
Orna Neutra described Omer and recalled his birth in the United States nearly 23 years ago.
“Omer was born in New York City, in 2001, this was one month after 9/11,” she said in similar comments outside the arena earlier in the day. On the day of the terrorist attacks, she said, “I was eight months pregnant crossing over the Queensboro Bridge trying to get home from the city with Omer in my belly, just trying to get him out of harm’s way. And it’s just insane that 23 years later, he was caught in this vile terrorist attack.”
The Neutras were wearing “Bring Them Home Now” T-shirts, in keeping with the advocacy of hostage families and their supporters around keeping their loved ones in the public consciousness. In Israel, the message has morphed into a political statement calling for a deal that would see the release of the hostages following an end to the war in Gaza.
The couple did not mention the ongoing negotiations over a deal in their comments. But Ronen Neutra revealed that Trump had called the couple personally shortly after Oct. 7.
“We know he stands with the American hostages,” he said. “We need our beautiful son back and we need your support.”
Trump has not commented extensively on the hostage crisis beyond saying that Hamas’ attack would not have happened had he been president at the time and saying that he does not believe many hostages remain alive.
Earlier in the day, the Neutras drew a crowd on an outdoor concourse in the convention complex when they spoke with Concerned Women of America about their plight. While Orna Neutra spoke, Madison Cawthorn, a former North Carolina representative who was unseated in 2022 following controversies that included backlash against a vacation to Hitler’s Austria retreat, passed by on his wheelchair. Perched on his lap was a slim blonde in a tight dress. Passersby, including people who had been listening to the Neutras, posed for selfies.
Ronen and Orna Neutra, foreground, discuss their son, Omer, held hostage by Hamas while in the background former Congressman Madison Cawthorn rolls by with a blond perched on his lap, at the Republican National Convention, Milwaukee, July 17, 2024. (Ron Kampeas)
The theme of the third night of the Republican convention was “Make America Strong Once Again.” The Associated Press photo of Trump after the assassination attempt, furious and streaks of blood from where the bullet grazed his ear staining his face, has become a defining emblem of the entire conference.
Attendees also were shown footage of Hamas’ attack on Israel and from Iran’s missile assault on Israel in April, to make the case that Israel faces danger because of Democratic President Joe Biden’s weakness.
“When President Trump brokered the Abraham Accords and was moving the Middle East toward peace and cooperation, President Biden’s weakness and confusion led toward a terrible Hamas assault killing more than 1,200 innocent people in Israel,” former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said in his speech.
“We need a president treating our friends as friends and our adversaries as our adversaries, understanding they only respect strength, not weakness,” said Lee Zeldin, a Jewish former New York congressman who ran a failed bid for governor in 2022, in his speech.
Zeldin mentioned Trump’s plan to replicate Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system, although it is not clear what protections it would provide a country not beset by rocket attacks, as Israel is.
“We must elect President Trump, whether building an Iron Dome defense shield at home, countering China and other bad actors abroad or securing our borders,” he said.
“He will make America strong and respected again,” Zeldin said, and alluded to the assassination attempt. “President Trump risks everything for us.”
Others invoking Trump’s purported toughness in defense of Israel included Shabbos Kestenbaum, who is suing his alma mater, Harvard University, for not doing enough to protect Jews on campus from pro-Palestinian demonstrators after Oct. 7.
“Let’s elect a president who will confront terrorism and its supporters once again,” Kestenbaum said.
The conference also honored the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill fraternity brothers who in April prevented pro-Palestinian protesters from pulling down an American flag.
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