Jonathan ‘Joni’ Ken-Dror, 28: Restaurateur who was ‘larger than life’
Murdered by Hamas terrorists while trying to flee the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7
Yehonatan Jonathan “Joni” Ken-Dror, 28, from Hod Hasharon, was murdered while trying to flee the Supernova music festival on October 7.
He attended the rave with his girlfriend of three years, Yael Rozman. When the rocket fire began, Joni, Yael and another friend left in their car to head home but got stuck in the gridlock. Joni decided to turn around and head elsewhere, but the car came under heavy fire from terrorists along the side of the highway.
Joni was wounded and stopped the car, and their friend managed to flee, but Yael stayed to try and treat Joni and get help. As they lay there, terrorists killed them both in a hail of bullets.
Joni was buried in Hod Hasharon on October 15. He is survived by his parents, Amir and Ela, and his two older sisters, Danielle and Tom.
He was born in Bonn, Germany, due to his family’s diplomatic posting, and returned to Israel when he was 2, settling in Hod Hasharon, according to a state eulogy. After finishing school, he enlisted in the IDF and served in the Paratrooper’s Brigade, including fighting in the 2014 Gaza War.
After his release, he worked jobs at a number of restaurants to save up for a big trip abroad, which he spent in the Far East, culminating in a period where he lived in New Zealand and worked as a locksmith. Upon his return to Israel, Joni decided to study business administration at the Ruppin Academic Center, which is where he met Yael.
After finishing their studies, the couple decided to move together to Tel Aviv, and in 2022 Joni opened a restaurant in the city, called Arais Machne Yehuda — a branch of the original Jerusalem eatery serving the traditional arais, pita stuffed with ground meat. Joni loved the nightlife, going out drinking and partying with friends, attending festivals with Yael, enjoying good food and serving good food to others with a smile.
In his memory, his mother is producing a cookbook of all his favorite dishes. His sister, Tom, named her newborn after Yehonatan, and many of his friends and family got a tattoo of one of his favorite song lyrics: “Where the heart is pure, that’s where the party is.”
Joni’s older sisters, Tom and Danielle, wrote in a post on an Instagram memorial page to “our little brother, larger than life.”
“All your life we, your big sisters, were like little moms,” they wrote. “You were our baby Jo, a serious brat who we could never get mad at. And even though we were the older ones, you taught us a lot about life.”
Now, they wrote, “How are we supposed to go on living without you? Without your laughter and your joy. Without the energy you brought to the house. Without your stories and your jokes, without your wit and sharpness. How can we no longer have a little brother? You broke our hearts. And there is nothing in the world that can fill the loss that is you.”
Joni’s mother, Ela, said on a Kan memorial podcast that Joni and Yael “were not parted in life nor in death.”
“Our Yehonatan was a boy who was always surrounded by joy and light. A boy of free love, a kid who magnetized all those around him,” she said. “He took the world by storm, he laughed big, he loved big, and left us unwritten but clear last wishes, that we have to continue in his path.”
