“We would pass each other in the rehabilitation ward’s hallways, look at one another, see that everything was all right, nod and continue on our way,” said Lt. Assaf Yaish, a 23-year-old combat officer in the Givati Brigade, recalling his first encounters with Staff Sgt. Lian Cohen, 21, who served as a Border Police combat officer.
The two were wounded less than a month apart in early 2025 during military operations and were scheduled for rehabilitation treatments on the same days at Sheba Medical Center.
“At first, we did not see or speak to each other very much,” Assaf said. But about a year ago, during their first hydrotherapy session together, something changed.
“I asked her where she had been wounded, and she asked me what had happened to me,” Assaf said, recalling their first conversation.
Over the following weeks, they continued to see each other occasionally between treatments until he worked up the courage to send her a message.
“I traveled abroad for two weeks, and we kept messaging,” he said. “When I returned, I asked for her phone number and decided to ask her out.”
Assaf enlisted in March 2022 in the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion. He was wounded Jan. 10 during an operation in the Gaza Strip in an incident that also injured seven other soldiers.
“I was a platoon commander in an operational company,” he said. “An explosive device detonated in the building we were in, and I fell from the third floor. I suffered a brain hemorrhage, a skull fracture and shrapnel wounds to my face and leg. I do not remember much from that day.”
He spent three months hospitalized in Sheba’s neurological rehabilitation department and has since continued treatment in a day rehabilitation program.
Assaf Yaish and Lian Cohen in rehabilitation
(Photo: Private collection)
Lian, who enlisted as a Border Police combat officer in November 2023, was wounded nearly a month later, on Feb. 8.
“We entered Tulkarm for an operational mission, and I was serving as the medic,” she said. “I was with a unit that was not my regular team, a reserve force I did not know at all.
“At midnight, we got out of the vehicle with our weapons. We felt threatened and wanted to make sure everything was all right. After searching the area for five minutes and seeing that everything appeared normal, a vehicle drove past and a terrorist inside opened fire at us.”
One of the bullets struck her arm.
“I was the only person wounded in the incident,” she said. “They applied two tourniquets, and I remember being in pain and screaming.”
Several minutes passed before Lian was evacuated to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba. She was later transferred to Sheba.
‘I was afraid I might collapse’
They went on their first date after completing one of their rehabilitation treatments. Their second date came shortly after Assaf recovered from surgery.
“I feel that I can understand him, and he can understand me,” Lian said. “If my arm hurts, he understands what is good for me. If his head hurts, I know what is good for him. We have a connection that helps us understand each other.”
Were you concerned about beginning a relationship under such circumstances?
“At first, I was worried,” Assaf said. “When you are injured, it is difficult to cope with yourself and all your limitations. The person you remember being and the person you are today are not the same.
“I was not sure I would be able to support someone else who had also been wounded. I was afraid I might collapse under the pressure and react badly.”
But you eventually overcame that fear.
“Yes,” he said. “I quickly understood that this relationship would be good for both of us. It supports me, and I have no doubt that Lian understands me better than anyone.
“She was also wounded under similar circumstances, and she knows how to support me and deal with my injury.”