“To be Jewish, you have to choose, and I chose to be Jewish”: The story of Staff Sgt. Uri Yehonatan Cohen
Some people move through life radiating light, quiet strength and purpose. Staff Sgt. Uri Yehonatan Cohen was one of them. A combat soldier in Yahalom, the IDF’s elite combat engineering unit, he was killed in battle in Rafah on June 6, 2025, at just 20 years old.
Uri left behind a loving family, comrades-in-arms and the life story of a boy who became a quiet leader, a fearless soldier and a young man who saw service to his country as his highest calling.
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The boy who was always smiling
Uri’s mother, Yaara, remembers a boy whose ever-present smile became his trademark. “Uri was all smiles, a child who truly saw the good in everything,” she says.
His father, Adi, recalls the quiet confidence that defined him from an early age. “He had a strong inner compass, a sense of calm,” he says. “He approached life with confidence and a positive spirit.”
His brothers, Dan and Nir, describe a close bond filled with good-natured chaos, soccer matches and playful wrestling, all underpinned by deep affection and concern for one another.
Uri was the family’s stabilizing force, the one who knew when to draw a line and when simply to be there.
Soccer in Uri’s life: Determination as a way of life
Soccer was central to Uri’s life. Though he was not the most physically dominant player on the field, he compensated with relentless effort and discipline. “He trained hard at home and never gave up, even when he was left on the bench,” his mother says.
His father recalls suggesting that Uri walk away if he felt he was not being given a fair chance. Uri remained confident. “I believe things will change,” he would say. His persistence paid off. Through determination and self-discipline, he rose to the highest level of Israeli youth soccer, playing for Hapoel Petah Tikva in the country’s top youth league.
The same conviction that hard work could overcome obstacles later shaped his military service.
“I chose to be Jewish”
When faced with the choice between pursuing a professional soccer career and undertaking meaningful combat service, Uri did not hesitate.
Years earlier, in a family-roots project he completed as a teenager, Uri wrote movingly about his connection to the Jewish people and the land of Israel. One line remained etched in his family’s memory: “To be Jewish, you have to choose, and I chose to be Jewish.”
After the Oct. 7 attacks, that sense of purpose only deepened. He enlisted in Yahalom and joined its bomb disposal unit.
His friends and brothers remember him as a quiet leader, someone who never had to raise his voice to earn the affection and trust of those around him.
He began his military service with a genuine desire to protect others and a profound sense of duty. “It is not a cliché,” his family says. “He truly wanted to give his very best to the country.”
The final battle in Rafah
At 6:02 a.m. on Friday, June 6, 2025, Uri’s team was operating in the Bani Suheila area of Rafah.
During a search of a building, a drone first scanned the ground floor before the team moved up to the second floor. A locked door had to be breached, and as the soldiers forced it open, a powerful explosive device detonated. Uri was killed instantly.
The news struck the family with devastating suddenness. His mother recalls seeing three officers standing at the door and being unable to comprehend what they had come to tell her.
“I told them, ‘You are mistaken. I can see on the app that he is in Khan Younis,’” she says.
The light he left behind
Although Uri’s life was cut short at 20, his father emphasizes that it was a full life. “He had everything,” he says.
Today, his family works to keep his memory alive by writing about him and sharing his story. “He needs to remain present in this world,” Yaara says. “His life still carries meaning.”
Uri Yehonatan Cohen will be remembered as a soldier who sought out the greatest challenges, an athlete who never gave up on himself and a person who spread light and goodness wherever he went. “I wish everyone could be like him,” his father says wistfully.
Staff Sgt. Uri Yehonatan Cohen, a soldier in the Combat Engineering Corps, fell on June 6, 2025. He was 20 years old.
May his memory be a blessing.
Staff Sergeant
Uri Yehonatan Cohen