On Tuesday evening, April 29, Masa Israel Journey will hold its 17th annual Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Lashiryon in Latrun, to remember the soldiers and victims of terror who gave their lives for the State of Israel. The event, which will be broadcast live to Jewish communities worldwide on jpost.1eye.us, will focus on the stories of lone soldiers, new immigrants, citizens, and tourists who came to Israel from around the world and fell while fulfilling their duties in the IDF or were murdered in terror attacks in Israel and in the Diaspora.
This past year, two Masa alumni, Roni Ganizate from France and Ilan Cohen from Argentina, were killed in the course of their IDF service in the Swords of Iron war. Here are their stories:
Born in Marseilles, Ganizate was the fourth of five children, all of whom made aliyah. “We weren’t running away from life in France,” says his brother Raphael. “Life was good there. We made aliyah because we wanted to.”
When Ganizate turned 18, he decided to spend a year in Bnei Akiva’s Hachshara program, which is conducted in cooperation with Masa Israel Journey. After completing his army service, Ganizate began working at his brother Jeremy’s accounting firm while continuing active reserve service (miluim).
Ganizate never missed a day of reserve duty. Jeremy recalls: “I remember sometimes I had exams, sometimes I had work, and I asked if I could shift things around. But for Roni, no matter what, he would always show up for miluim. Every time he was called, he came.”
As a soldier in the Nahal infantry brigade, Ganizate spent much of his reserve duty patrolling the northern border. On the night of October 7, 2023, after the Hamas attack on the South, he was called back to the army. Over the course of the next year, Ganizate spent more than 200 days in four separate stints of reserve duty. In September 2024, he was called in for his fourth tour. Ganizate was told that they would be entering Lebanon.
Says Raphael, “When he learned they were going into Lebanon, he was happy because he felt that we were now doing something, and we would be restoring our honor.” Ganizate’s platoon entered Lebanon on a mission to clear a village.
“The day before the incident, they searched homes, found weapons and tunnels, and he was very proud of that,” says Jeremy. A few days later, the fatal battle took place. Soldiers entered a village where terrorist cells were said to be lurking. Eight terrorists hiding in a large school nearby ambushed the soldiers. Ganizate was killed instantly, and a few days later, another soldier succumbed to his wounds.
Ganizate, 36, left behind his wife, Shoshana, and three children. Ganizate loved the land of Israel. “He said that Israel is where one can truly live,” says Raphael. He felt that one’s potential could be fulfilled only in Israel. What I will remember most about my brother was his smile.”
ILAN MOSHE COHEN was born in Argentina. Cohen was deeply connected to Jewish values and dedicated his time to community service. He loved sports and was dedicated to soccer, biking, and running. “Ilan was always a very likable child, very mischievous,” says his mother, Andriana. “He had many friends. When he was 16 years old, he started to read about the establishment of Israel and one day, he told me, ‘Mommy, this is a miracle.’ He said he must go to Israel.”
At age 17, Cohen arrived in Israel on a Masa program, studying at the Hadrat Melech Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. Ari, a friend from that period, recalls, “I met Ilan at the yeshiva where we both did our Masa program. We became best friends very quickly. He was a very spiritual person. He had a very special connection to the Torah.”
Although Cohen wanted to remain in Israel, his family convinced him to return to Argentina to complete his high school education. In January 2022, Cohen returned and began studying at the Chabad Yeshiva in Migdal Ha’emek. In April 2023, he enlisted in the IDF and was assigned to the Paratroopers Brigade.
On October 7, 2023, while in the middle of his military training, his unit was sent to Kibbutz Be’eri and then into the Gaza Strip. Cohen fought in Gaza for two months, and during a short leave, he was able to meet his mother, who had come to visit him in Israel.
Afterward, he participated in further training and went on additional combat missions in Gaza. He took pride in his service and viewed his mission of returning the hostages to their homes as his personal calling. On May 13, 2024, Cohen’s unit entered Gaza once again as part of an operation to return the hostages.
During the mission, they successfully recovered four bodies of hostages found in a tunnel. St.-Sgt. Ilan Moshe Cohen fell in battle on the 7th of Iyar, May 15, 2024, at the age of 20. Says Ari, “If I could talk to him again, I would thank him for everything he did for the Jewish people.”
This article was written in cooperation with Masa Israel Journey.