Washington Post criticizes parents of hostage who spoke at RNC, post later deleted

The Washington Post on Friday came under fire over a post on X which appeared to be critical of the parents of an IDF soldier who is being held by Hamas in Gaza.

The newspaper had shared a link to an article on Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of hostage Omer Neutra, who spoke at the Republican National Convention this week.

In the text accompanying the link, The Post wrote, “Omer Neutra has been missing since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. When his parents speak publicly, they don’t talk about Israel’s assault on Gaza that has killed over 38,000 Palestinians according to local officials. Experts have warned of looming famine.”

The post was later deleted and the newspaper wrote, “A previous post referencing the below story was unacceptable and did not meet our editorial standards, and The Post has deleted it. The reporter of the story was not involved in crafting the tweet. We have taken the appropriate action regarding this incident.”

Nevertheless, the original post had already been seen by Jewish organizations who shared a screenshot of it and blasted The Washington Post.

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote, “Are you kidding me, Washington Post? You may have deleted the post, but the thoughtless characterization of Omer Neutra's parents - who have spent the last 287 days not knowing the fate of their son after he was kidnapped by terrorists on Oct 7 - remains in your article.”

“In what world did anyone find it acceptable to publish in the first place? And to add insult to injury, the article cites ‘local officials,’ aka the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas - the terror organization that launched the barbaric 10/7 massacre that led to the ongoing war,” added Greenblatt.

The American Jewish Committee shared a screenshot of the original post and wrote, “The parents of Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra have one goal: TRYING TO FREE THEIR SON from Hamas captivity. That's all they need to say. How could this tweet have been posted? Shame on Washington Post for calling the Neutras’ morality into question.”

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)