Hundreds of people gathered at the Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv on Friday to pay their last respects to slain Israeli-American hostage soldier Cpt. Omer Maxim Neutra, whose body was returned to Israel from Gaza on Sunday evening.
Neutra, 21, a tank platoon commander in the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion, was killed on October 7 while battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel, and his body was abducted to Gaza.
The only surviving member of Neutra’s tank crew, Sgt. Nimrod Cohen — who was captured alive and released last month along with the rest of the remaining living hostages — attended his funeral, along with several high-ranking officials, including President Isaac Herzog, former defense minister Yoav Gallant and former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi.
A contingent of US officials was also present, including the commander of the United States Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, who gave a eulogy for the New York native.
The funeral opened with the blowing of the shofar, before Neutra’s parents and brother recited Kaddish, the Jewish mourners’ prayer. Along with the rest of his family and friends, they were dressed in black shirts bearing a photo of Omer’s grinning face against a backdrop of the American and Israeli flags, and wearing pieces of masking tape with the number 763, to mark the days of captivity of the remaining six deceased captives.
Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the terms
Omer’s father, Ronen Neutra, told gatherers that he took comfort in the fact that his son did not suffer much and was spared from knowing the extent of the horror that was unfolding around him.
Ronen Neutra speaks at the funeral of his son Captain Omer Neutra, a tank platoon commander who was killed battling invading Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and his body abducted to Gaza, at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery, in Tel Aviv, on November 7, 2025. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
“After more than two years, your impossible journey has come to an end,” he said in his eulogy for his son. “758 days of hope, pain, prayer and fear, and today you are finally home.”
“My child, you were carried away on your back, unconscious, and taken captive with Nimrod [Cohen] and Oz [Daniel]. I am comforted by the knowledge that you did not suffer, that you were not humiliated, that you did not know,” Ronen said. “You were only 21 years old, but in moments like these, you do not see age, you see the soul.”
The family of Cpt. Omer Neutra, whose body was returned from Gaza, at his November 7, 2025, funeral at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery in Tel Aviv (Danor Aharon/Israeli Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
“We know that until your last breath, you thought about your crew, about the people of Israel. You were a hero, not because you were killed in war, but because of the way you lived,” said Ronen.
You were a hero, not because you were killed in war, but because of the way you lived
He said that the family has learned about Omer’s heroism in his last minutes alive, about how his tank malfunctioned while battling the invading terrorists, leaving it vulnerable to RPG fire.
Family and friends grieve at the grave of Captain Omer Neutra, a tank platoon commander who was killed battling invading Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and his body abducted to Gaza, at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery, in Tel Aviv, on November 7, 2025. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
The tank’s driver, Sgt. Shaked Dahan, was killed on the spot, and the tank began to fill with smoke.
As the crew began suffocating, Omer instructed them to “breathe through the vents,” Ronen said, adding that this allowed them to continue fighting.
“It was a clear thought in the midst of hell. It was leadership. It was responsibility for the lives of others — even when your own was in danger,” he said, recalling his son’s deep love for his tank crew, and the way its members relied on him and loved him back.
Released hostage Nimrod Cohen at Omer Neutra’s funeral in Tel Aviv on November 7, 2025. (Paulina Patimer/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
Ronen said his son had been “something rare: an American open heart with a warm Israeli soul.”
Omer’s mother, Orna, eulogized her “perfect and complete child.”
“As you were taken, so you were returned to us,” she said, sharing that the forensic identification experts had been immediately able to identify him upon his body’s return to Israel.
Describing her son’s warmth and light, she recalled the homemade hummus he would prepare, his love of hamburgers with all the toppings, and the way he delighted in crunching ice between his teeth.
“‘My parents would do anything for me,’” you told your friends on the beach, two days before you were taken from us,” Orna recalled. “And you were right. And that sentence became our compass through two years of struggle — to bring you home.”
“And now you have finally returned. And we are all left with this enormous space between who you were to us and to the world, and all the things you were still supposed to be.”
IDF soldiers carry the coffin of slain hostage Israeli-American Capt. Omer Neutra, after his body was returned from Gaza, at the Kiryat Shaul cemetery, in Tel Aviv, November 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Daniel, Omer’s younger brother, delivered his eulogy in English.
He recalled the infrequent family reunions that would take place after Omer moved to Israel.
“In those times, when we would all be in one place together after an extended period, I remember feeling and actively thinking that a missing piece was repaired,” he remembered. “Suddenly, we’d have a full car and full house and you would roughhouse and torment me and force me to play games that I hated but actually loved.
“I consciously thought in those times when we were all together how special it was. And I never said it to you, but I know you felt it too.”
“And here we are, all together again after two and a half years — our longest ever time apart,” continued Daniel. “And I can’t even give you a hug, just look at a box…so close but so far away.”
Daniel Neutra, brother of Cpt. Omer Neutra, speaks during his funeral at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery in Tel Aviv, on November 7, 2025 (Jack Guez/AFP)
He said that a friend asked him earlier this week whether Omer would be buried in New York, which, although a “reasonable question,” was not what Omer would have wanted.
His brother’s love for Israel and his desire to shoulder the burden of protecting the country are what led him to refuse to tell people he was a lone soldier, as he “couldn’t stand the looks of reverence.”
It’s what led him to return to the front line of battle after going through training as a commander, rather than choosing the easier path of training new recruits, Daniel said.
He noted that this wasn’t the first funeral held for his brother, as the family held a memorial service for him in December 2024, after the IDF confirmed he had been killed.
Cpt. Omer Neutra (Courtesy)
“Like your bar mitzvah, we did one here and one there,” he said, calling his older brother “the bridge that connects our community across the world.”
“Two funerals are far too many. But we have had many more than just two,” he said, referring to the family’s two-year campaign to raise awareness about Omer’s plight and spread his story.
Daniel recalled hearing the recording of his brother’s final moments in his damaged tank as he faced down terrorists and battled through smoke to speak over the radio.
“You relentlessly called for backup to aid your injured soldiers, but no one came,” said the younger Neutra brother.
Family and friends gather around the grave of slain Israeli-American hostage Cpt. Omer Neutra, at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery, in Tel Aviv, on November 7, 2025. (Jack Guez/AFP)
“I did the math,” he said. “We’re the same age now. Today I’m exactly three days older than you were the last time we embraced.”
‘An indelible part of our lives’
The 21-year-old slain soldier was also eulogized by those who didn’t know him in life, but who became familiar with his story in death.
President Herzog, who delivered the first eulogy, offered his deep thanks to the “hero” finally being laid to rest.
“Most of us here didn’t get to meet you personally,” said Herzog. “But all of us, the whole nation, feel that you are an indelible part of our lives because you chose us when you came here alone, enlisted and fought.”
He spoke of Neutra’s Zionism and decision to postpone college studies to move to Israel and enlist in a combat unit as a so-called lone soldier — an IDF soldier whose parents are not in the country.
“You are part of our lives because you protected us with your body and all your strength,” the president said. “You are part of our lives because you made a name for yourself throughout the world as a hero.”
“You knew you were risking your lives but fought, preventing many more terrorists from entering more of Israel’s territory,” Herzog said of the battle fought by Neutra’s tank crew on October 7. “It was a battle of life and death.”
“I promise you that Omer’s memory will be engraved in our memories forever,” said Herzog.
CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper speaks during the funeral of slain Israeli-American hostage Cpt. Omer Neutra at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery in Tel Aviv, on November 7, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper also eulogized the US-Israeli citizen, whom he said “made the ultimate sacrifice.”
“Everyone who has worn a uniform understands the possibility of the ultimate sacrifice,” said Cooper. “We sweat and lead and hope it never comes. Omer made the ultimate sacrifice in service to a higher cause.”
“You embodied the best of both countries,” he said. “You cemented your place in history as a hero of two countries, part of America’s promise and Israel’s defense.”
“You chose to be a warrior, a ‘lohem,’” the CENTCOM chief continued, using the Hebrew word for combat soldier.
“He did what the bold and courageous do, he ran toward the sound of gunfire,” he said of Omer. “He could have waited, rested, done nothing, but that’s not who this hero was.”
Reciting the Jewish commandment: “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor,” Cooper said Omer “lived those words.”
He delivered condolences from US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and said they both hope that the burial provides some closure and peace.
“Omer, welcome home. You will not be forgotten,” said Cooper. “Yehi zichro baruch” — may his memory be a blessing.