The family of Sgt. Moshe Yitzchak Hacohen Katz, a soldier killed in southern Lebanon, chose to have him buried in Israel out of “great pride” in his decision to move and serve in the IDF, his sister said Sunday.
“The decision to bury Moshe at Mount Herzl and not return him to the United States came from great pride in him and the path he chose,” his sister, Adina, told ynet.
Katz, 22, a fighter in the Paratroopers Brigade’s 890th Battalion, was killed by Hezbollah rocket fire targeting IDF forces operating in southern Lebanon overnight between Friday and Saturday. The IDF said three additional soldiers were moderately wounded in the same incident.
“The feeling is very difficult,” she said. “The news came not long ago and everything is still fresh, painful and full of emotions — sadness, anger and everything in between. We want people to remember him for his smile and for the life he lived.”
Adina described her brother as a joyful person who quickly built a wide circle of friends after moving to Israel.
“He loved people, loved music and loved to sing,” she said. “Even though he was here for a relatively short time, a little over a year, he made many friends. Everyone says they always saw him smiling, that he knew how to make people laugh.”
Katz moved to Israel without knowing Hebrew, completed a preparatory program and later enlisted in the Paratroopers after passing selection.
“He gave it his all and finished his beret march with a smile,” she said. “All along the way he was full of energy, never losing that smile.”
Adina, who moved to Israel before her brother, studied in high school in Israel and served in a search and rescue unit. She said his decision to enlist developed over time.
“About a year after Oct. 7, he made the decision and followed through,” she said.
The family, from New Haven, Connecticut, is not from a traditionally Zionist background, she added.
“We didn’t grow up as Israelis and not in a particularly Zionist home,” she said. “But over time it became meaningful for me, and later my siblings also began to see it differently and understand its importance.”
Their father, Mendy Katz, wrote in a Facebook post after the announcement of his son’s death that it was “an unspeakable tragedy,” describing Moshe as having “a zest for life and jokes.” He said the funeral would take place in Israel.