Long Island park named after hometown resident, Israeli soldier killed in Hamas terror attack

Residents in Oyster Bay, N.Y., this past weekend renamed a park in honor of a hometown resident and Israeli Defense Forces soldier who was killed in Hamas's October 2023 terror attack on Israel.

 A Long Island park was named this past weekend after an Israel Defense Forces soldier from Long Island, N.Y., who was killed in Hamas's October 2023 terror attack on Israel. 

Neutra was a platoon commander stationed near the Gaza border when his unit was ambushed by Hamas just a week before his birthday.

Hundreds of people on Sunday attended the renaming of the Oyster Bay park to Capt. Omer Neutra Memorial Park, according to the New York Post. 

“[The park] always meant something because we used to bring him here as a child,” Neutra's father, Ronen, told the Post. “But now you see his picture [here]. … It’s an amazing sign of support.”

Neutra's mother, Orna, said, “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, the endless brotherly bickering with [his sibling] Daniel.

“This neighborhood was his world. Carefree, a place of friendship, small adventures,” she said. “The foundation for the values that shaped who he became. A place where being connected to Israel is a source of pride where community and contribution are valued.

“And I want the children to play in this park. To feel what Omer felt. Joy. Adventure. Belonging. A community that wraps around you with love.”

Actor Michael Rapaport knew the Neutras through his pro-Israel activism and attended the event, saying he was moved by the family’s story. He called for Hamas to immediately release Neutra’s body along with other hostages’ corpses, and hostages believed to be still alive.

“It’s of the utmost importance that Omer and the 47 other hostages come home right now,” Rapaport told the Post.

“We cannot, will not, stop fighting, begging, pleading, writing, screaming, yelling, crying until Omer Neutra and the other 47 are returned. It is the right thing to do. It is the Jewish thing to do. It is the New York thing to do.

“And we have to keep that New York spirit alive every time we think about Omer Neutra, because he is one of our people, he is one of our brothers, he is one of our sons,” he said.

Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said that Neutra, an IDF tank commander, was a model citizen who touched the lives of everyone he came in contact with.

“Omer was no doubt a leader. He embodied the values of bravery, commitment and humanity,” Saladino said.