New York– A young man who went to Israel from Connecticut last year to join the army has died battle operation in the south lebanon On a Saturday, just a few weeks after completing the training.
The Israeli military identified the soldier as Sgt. Moshe Yitzchak HaCohen Katz, 22. According to family members, he was originally from New Haven, Connecticut.
“My heart is broken and the hurt is real,” his father, Mendy Katz, said in a post on Facebook.
Moshe Katz was the eldest of five children. The Israeli military said he was assigned to the 890th Battalion, Paratroopers Brigade. He was killed in southern Lebanon, a stronghold of the terrorist group Hezbollah. Israel is expanding There’s an attack.
Caroline Caprio, the business partner of the soldier’s father, said that after his death was announced, his parents and other family members flew to Israel to attend his funeral on Sunday.
Moshe Katz’s decision to join the Israeli army followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, his sister Adina Katz said in an interview with Ynet News, an Israeli news website.
Nearly a year after the attack, Moshe Katz committed himself to the move, he said. Adina Katz said when he moved last year, he arrived in Israel without being able to speak Hebrew and completed a language preparation program before being admitted. Caprio said family members attended her graduation from the training a few weeks ago.
“He gave his all and finished his Beret March with a smile,” said Adina Katz, who moved to Israel before her brother.
Rabbi Yehoshua Hecht, a relative in Connecticut, said Moshe Katz came from a family with deep roots in New Haven’s Jewish community and felt a strong connection to Israel and its people because of his faith.
Hecht said, “He wanted to do something more and protect the life and limb of those he loved through basic training and joining the Israel Defense Forces.”
In his post on Facebook, Katz’s father recalled his son’s “zest for life” and his love of laughing with those around him.
In a statement on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Katz had “fought bravely in defense of the homeland.”
