The Washington Post has removed a social media post that scolded the parents of an American hostage in Gaza for not publicly criticizing Israel’s “aggression” in the Strip, saying it found the post “unacceptable.”
“Omer Neutra has been missing since the Oct. 7 Israeli attack. Local officials say when his parents speak publicly they avoid discussing the Israeli offensive against Gaza that has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians and experts warn of looming famine,” The Post wrote in its X-newspaper on Friday morning.
Linked Post interview Omar’s parents, Oma and Ronen Neutra, photographed by reporter Joanna Slater ahead of the Republican National Convention speech in Milwaukee.
The paper’s article on Friday drew heavy criticism for scolding the Neutra family and saying Omer was “missing” instead of saying he had been kidnapped.
The newspaper removed the article a few hours later.
A representative for The Washington Post declined to comment but pointed to the paper’s social media posts about the incident.
“An earlier post referencing the article below was unacceptable and did not meet our editorial standards, so The Washington Post has removed it. The reporter for the article was not involved in creating the tweet. We have taken appropriate action regarding this incident,” the Post said. I wrote to X.
of The paper also said: The company deleted the previous post, saying it had “misunderstood the efforts of Neutra’s parents.”
But later on Friday, the article itself still criticized the Neutras for citing casualty estimates from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry and for not discussing “the intensity of the Israeli counterattack.”
Omer, 22, grew up on Long Island, New York, is a dual American-Israeli citizen, and serves in the Israel Defense Forces.
He was one of eight American hostages abducted by Hamas during a brutal Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
A family friend of the Neutras, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, called the posts “anti-Semitic and un-American” in an interview with The Washington Post on Friday.
The source said the paper deleted the post but left out a statement that Israel’s counterattack had “left more than 38,000 Palestinians dead and nearly 90,000 wounded,” a figure cited by Gaza’s Health Ministry.
“What’s going on at the Washington Post? We know that the anti-Semitic voices at the Washington Post have won. The only thing they regret is that article about X was denounced. They’ve kept the anti-Semitic content in the article.”
“Speaking up for the hostages is one of the few things agreed upon between the president, the vice president and congressional and senate leaders,” the family friend added.
“The Neutras are advocating reconciliation with the hostages,” the source said, noting that they want an end to the conflict.
Other members of X slammed the outlet, with American Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt saying: write: “are you kidding me, @WashingtonPost“The post may have been deleted, but your article remains its thoughtless portrayal of the parents of Omer Neutra, who have spent 287 days in ignorance of the fate of their son since he was kidnapped by terrorists on October 7.”
He continued: “To make matters worse, the article refers to ‘local officials’ – namely the Gaza Ministry of Health – which is run by Hamas, the terrorist organisation that launched the barbaric October 7th massacre that sparked the ongoing war.”
Rich Greenfield, a media analyst at LightShed Partners, called on Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos to fire Editor-in-Chief Matt Murray and the reporter who wrote the article.
“The Washington Post should fire its editor-in-chief. Follow Reporter Follow “It enabled one of the most nasty anti-Semitic headlines I have ever read,” he wrote.
This is not the first time the paper has come under scrutiny from Jewish groups over its coverage of the Gaza war since last fall’s Hamas terror attacks.
Fox News Anti-Semitic non-profit organization It’s called StopAntisemitism. Since the October 7 attacks, he has accused the paper of “aligning” with terrorist support groups. Published a sympathetic article In April, he spoke about people who had lost their jobs for defending Hamas.
