A 22-year-old man who relocated from Connecticut to Israel last year to enlist in the military was killed during a combat operation in southern Lebanon on Saturday, just weeks after completing his training.
The Israeli military identified the soldier as Sgt. Moshe Yitzchak Hacohen Katz, 22. According to his family, he was originally from New Haven, Connecticut.
“My heart is shattered and the wound is real,” his father, Mendy Katz, wrote in a Facebook post.
Moshe Katz was the eldest of five siblings. The Israeli military said he served in the 890th Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade. He died in southern Lebanon, a known stronghold of the militant group Hezbollah, as Israel continues to expand its military operation in the area.
Following the announcement of his death, his parents and other relatives traveled to Israel to attend his funeral, which is scheduled for Sunday, said Caroline Caprio, a business partner of his father.
Moshe Katz’s decision to join the Israeli military took shape in the months after the Oct. 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.
About a year after the attack, Moshe Katz made the decision to move, she said. When he followed through last year, he arrived in Israel unable to speak Hebrew and completed a language preparatory program before enlisting, Adina Katz said. Family members attended his training graduation just a few weeks ago, Caprio said.
“He gave it his all and finished his beret march with a smile,” said Adina Katz, who had moved to Israel before her brother.
Moshe Katz came from a family with deep ties to New Haven’s Jewish community, and his faith gave him a strong connection to Israel and its people, said Rabbi Yehoshua Hecht, a relative in Connecticut.
“He wanted to do something more and that something more was going though basic training and joining the Israel Defense Forces to protect life and limb of the people that he loved,” Hecht said.
In his Facebook post, Katz’s father remembered his son’s “zest for life” and his love of sharing laughter with others.
In a statement on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Katz had “fought bravely in defense of the homeland.”
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