Plainview native Omer Neutra's parents get honorary degree from Gov. Hochul
Orna and Ronen Neutra and their son, Daniel, with Gov Kathy Hochul Tuesday. Credit: ndok/Photograph by @GovKathyHochul, X
Gov. Kathy Hochul presented the parents of Plainview native Omer Neutra, an Israeli Defense Force soldier killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, with an honorary degree from Binghamton University.
Neutra, 21, deferred enrollment at the state university "to protect innocent civilians in Israel," Hochul said in a post on X.
"I was proud to present his parents with an honorary degree from SUNY Binghamton — one he should be here to receive," Hochul added. "May his memory forever be a blessing."
Before presenting his parents with the honorary degree Tuesday at the Museum of the City of New York, Hochul said that as a student, Neutra served as “the captain of his high school basketball team, and he would have been overjoyed to see how well the Knicks are playing this season.
“This is the degree he should have earned after returning from Israel and enrolling at Binghamton,” Hochul added during her remarks. “We can never bring him back, but we can forever honor the brave person he was.”
A spokesperson for Binghampton was not immediately available for comment late Wednesday. Neutra's mother and father, Orna and Ronen Neutra, could not be immediately reached.
Before he put off higher education to enlist in the Israeli force, Neutra was an honors student at Schechter School of Long Island, the Williston Park Jewish day school from which he graduated in 2019, Newsday has reported. He served as the captain of several sports teams and was an active member of various Jewish community organizations.
For more than a year after the attack on Israel, Neutra's parents and community held out hope he was alive. On Dec. 2, 2024, the Israeli force confirmed his death. Several hundred attended a memorial service for him at Midway Jewish Center in Syosset the following day, Newsday reported. His remains were returned to Israel on Nov. 2, 2025.
At that time, an Instagram account connected to the Neutra family, Bring Omer Home, confirmed his body was returned "for burial in the land of Israel. May Omer's memory be a blessing. May his family be comforted among all who mourn."
A street in his hometown was renamed in his honor on April 6, 2025, followed by a park on Sept. 21, 2025, Newsday previously reported.
