Thousands attend US-Israeli lone soldier’s funeral after family asks public to show up
Jordan Cooper died of a nut allergy while in Israel after completing more than 200 days of reserve duty since October 7
Thousands attended the Tuesday night funeral of an American-Israeli former lone soldier who died suddenly on Monday night due to an allergic reaction.
Jordan Cooper was buried at the Ganei Esther Cemetery in Rishon Lezion in a moving ceremony attended by thousands after his family asked the public to attend.
The family is sitting shiva until Sunday in Tel Aviv.
Cooper leaves behind parents, a brother and a girlfriend.
He immigrated to Israel in 2018 through the Garin Tzabar program for lone soldiers, serving in the Nahal infantry brigade.
He had returned to the US after completing his military service but decided to come back to Israel after the war broke out with Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
Baruch Dayan HaEmet
This was Jordan Cooper, the lone IDF soldier who's funeral I attended tonight as he had no family in Israel
May his memory be for a blessing pic.twitter.com/C9UZx4sjcG
— Documenting Israel (@DocumentIsrael) August 13, 2024
The 26-year-old had completed 200 days of reserve duty since October 7.
Cooper’s family recently came to Israel to visit him.
The family in a statement said that his mother had purchased halva at a market on Monday after receiving assurances by the seller that it did not contain any nuts.
Jordan had a severe allergic reaction after eating the halva. He received an EpiPen injection but later collapsed in front of his family when the ambulance arrived and was pronounced dead a short while later.
Cooper’s adoptive father in Israel, Shlomo, said Cooper’s parents had come over for dinner last week, according to Ynet.
“They’re an exemplary family, incredibly Zionist,” he said.
He added that “after October 7, Jordan understood that Israel was his home. He planned to build a home, marry his girlfriend and start a family.”
Cooper’s friend and fellow lone soldier, Raphael, told the Ynet news site he was heartbroken.
“This was a friend who fought by my side in reserve duty on the border with Lebanon. Last Friday, I met Jordan at the hospital when we went to visit our commander who lost a leg in Gaza. It was really important to Jordan to help the commander and get him a robotic leg from the US,” he said.
