Those we have lost

Sgt. Maj. Yorai Cohen, 29: Police officer who was a doting father

Killed battling Hamas terrorists at the Sha’ar Hanegev Junction on October 7

Sgt. Maj. Yorai Eliyahu Cohen (Courtesy)
Sgt. Maj. Yorai Eliyahu Cohen (Courtesy)

Sgt. Maj. Yorai Eliyahu Cohen, 29, a police officer in the Yamam counter-terrorism unit, from Nahariya, was killed on October 7 battling Hamas at the Sha’ar Hanegev Junction.

He was called up to the front lines the morning of the Hamas attack, and was heading toward Sderot with other members of his team, according to his family. On the way there, they were directed to the Sha’ar Hanegev Junction, just outside the city, where they engaged in heavy gunfire with cells of Hamas terrorists. Yorai and fellow Yamam officer Supt. Avraham Hankin were shot dead in the firefight.

Yorai was buried on October 9 in Nahariya. He is survived by his wife, Adar, their daughter, Niv, 1, his parents, Yaacov and Esti, and his siblings Bar and Noa.

Born in Hatzor Haglilit in the Galilee, Yorai was raised in Nahariya and in nearby Kibbutz Sa’ar. He played soccer for many years in his youth, a hobby he kept up with as an adult, and was a devoted fan of the Maccabi Haifa team. As an adult he trained intensely with Crossfit, and loved to relax by grilling up quality meats and sipping on a beer.

During his mandatory IDF service, he served in the Paratroopers Brigade and fought in the 2014 Gaza war, Operation Protective Edge. After finishing his army service he worked for three years in the Shin Bet, during which he lived in Kibbutz Gevim near the Gaza border, before joining the Israel Police in January 2020 and serving in the Yamam counter-terrorism unit as a squad commander.

In 2021, he married Adar, his high school sweetheart, and in 2022 their daughter Niv was born.

His brother Bar, wrote to Yorai on what would have been his 30th birthday: “I can’t comprehend the fact that you’re not here, not with us to celebrate the way you loved, with all your wonderful friends, with us, and the little family you built.”

“Yorai, we miss your laugh, your silliness your jokes,” Bar added. “I miss the good meat you knew how to make, that I have no idea how to do. You were such an incredible father, you raised your daughter wonderfully, she misses you and thinks about you all the time… We’re all always in awe of her intelligence and her perfect smile, and I’m sure you’re so proud… It’s your birthday today, we decorated, and we tried to think of everything. We hope you love it.”

In a memorial video, his mother, Esti, said she was still waiting “for him to open the door, with his height and his strength and walk inside. But it seems like it won’t happen.”

“Yorai was a mischievous boy, a boy who loved people and kids,” she said. “He had a dream of being a [professional] soccer player, but at the start of 12th grade he realized he wanted to do a meaningful army service, and he achieved that goal… At this stage in his life, Yorai realized that serving in the security forces was very important” and that he wanted to continue.

“It’s such a pity that Niv won’t get to experience him as a father,” added Esti. Fatherhood, she said, “brought out in him a softness and worry and love that I never saw in my life.”

His widow, Adar, wrote on Facebook in November 2023 on the 13th anniversary of their relationship.

“It wasn’t love at first sight and we went through so much together. A journey that I wouldn’t change for a second, a journey that turned us into the couple we were,” she wrote. “After the wedding, I was bummed that I had to reset the count [of us being together] and start celebrating a new date — even though we never made a big deal about either of them, and we’ll never get to celebrate our third anniversary.”

“For 13 years I felt safe, beautiful, smart, funny, like I had an anchor and a big, muscular support system for every decision I made,” she added. “And I had the one person who knew me best in the world who loved me endlessly. Our count is starting anew, this time from October 7, 2023.”

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