Inspiration from Zion: This is a Love Story

The transition from Israel’s Memorial Day for IDF soldiers and victims of terrorism to Independence Day is the most gut wrenching and glorious moment of the year. The price of freedom is horrific. Freedom and sovereignty of the Nation of Israel after 2000 years of exile is an absolute miracle – one we are striving to fulfill every single day.

This year, what we feel every year, is at lava heat intensity.

One could forgive bereaved families for not making the transition from grief to joy. Especially the newly bereaved. Friends of ours whose brother Major Yehuda Natan Cohen was killed in Gaza chose Independence Day to send a message of strength to uplift the nation. Yehuda was 25 years old.

I’ve translated the Hebrew to English –

Attacked, they charged forward: Yehuda and his soldiers’ last battle

A week after the ground entry into Gaza, the Givati Reconnaissance Unit positioned itself in an area of buildings previously cleared of terrorists. The Battalion Commander reported suspicious movement and ordered Yehuda to check the area.

Yehuda took Dolev the radio operator and his soldiers, Gilad Nitzan and Yonadav Levinstein, with him. Suddenly, they came under fire and they were hit. Despite the injury, the soldiers under Yehuda’s command did not hesitate – they charged towards the terrorists, taking heavy fire.

The soldiers were mortally injured. As Yehuda bled, radioed the battalion commander: “We were ambushed, the entire force has been hit,” while pinpointing their exact location.

When the reinforcements arrived, they found Yehuda, Gilad, and Yonadav dead – with no more bullets in their weapons, and Dolev the radio operator wounded. The terrorists were killed, and in the house they were in, a large amount of ammunition was found.

Yehuda’s force thwarted the terrorists’ plan to shell a building where some sixty IDF soldiers were staying. “Yehuda, in his death saved the entire platoon,” wrote Ribkin the Deputy Company Commander. The Battalion Commander informed the parents that he would recommend awarding them the Medal of Valor.

Thanks to the bravery of Yehuda and his soldiers, which builds on top of the courage of generations of fighters who sacrificed their lives, we stand here today, on Independence Day 5784 (2024). We stand tall and strong, promising to continue in their footsteps, building our nation and our land. We do so from a place of unity and connection to the legacy of the generations that came before us.

Happy Independence Day!