Yonatan Samerano, 21: Budding DJ and producer ‘was born a businessman’
Fled the Supernova festival on October 7, was murdered outside Kibbutz Be’eri, his body kidnapped to Gaza and returned by the IDF on June 21, 2025
Yonatan “Yonti” Mordechai Samerano, 21, from Tel Aviv, was murdered on October 7 in southern Israel and his body kidnapped to Gaza.
Yonatan was attending the Supernova music festival with a group of friends when the Hamas onslaught began.
He and two friends, Bnayahu Bitton and Maor Gratzyani, fled the site of the rave and arrived at the gate to Kibbutz Be’eri seeking safety, unaware that the kibbutz had also been attacked by Hamas gunmen.
Yonatan, Bnayahu and Maor were all shot dead at the gate to the kibbutz. Terrorists later showed up at the gate and kidnapped Yonatan’s body to Gaza. One of the men who took his body hostage was later identified as an employee of UNRWA.
Israeli officials informed his family on December 4, 2023, that Yonatan had been killed in the attack and his body kidnapped, citing footage, witnesses and evidence.
Yonatan’s body was recovered by IDF troops from Gaza on June 21, 2025, along with those of Ofra Keidar and Staff Sgt. Shay Levinson, and returned to Israel.
He was buried in Tel Aviv on June 24. He is survived by his parents, Ayelet and Kobi, and his brother Yair.
The oldest in his family, Yonatan grew up in Tel Aviv and attended the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium in the city, graduating in 2020.
Family and friends said he lived for concerts and live music and his dream was to be a successful music and event presenter. Despite his young age, Yonatan was already pursuing such a career, producing DJ club nights and starting his own sound and lighting systems rental company.
His loved ones said Yonatan was a talented DJ and an entrepreneur at heart, who wasn’t afraid to chase his dreams. Though he loved electronic and dance music, his tastes were also eclectic, and his family said he always enjoyed the songs of Arik Einstein.
His mother recalled in an interview with 103FM radio how, at age 8, when she told him she wouldn’t buy him a drum set, he called up all his aunts and uncles and convinced them to give him NIS 250 each instead of a new toy so that he could purchase his own drums: “Yonatan, from the moment he was born, he was a businessman,” she said. “Everything he wanted, he knew he would get.”
He and his girlfriend, Emma, had been together for seven months. He was a devoted fan of the Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball and soccer teams.
At his funeral, his mother, Ayelet, lamented, “I can’t smell you, I can’t hug you or kiss you, but I will keep speaking to you and together we will make all your dreams come true.”
“Your dreams and aspirations were so diverse and touched on everything,” she added. “They will reach everyone the way that you touched everyone.”
His younger brother, Yair, wondered, “How can I say goodbye to 21 years of a crazy person whose life was one big marathon? You would turn a few beers into a party, that’s who you were. I always looked up to you with admiration. You were a true Superman; there wasn’t anything you didn’t do, and you were good at everything. You are with me in everything I do, you’re the most wonderful kid in the world and you will stay forever young.”
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