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Thousands Attend Funeral in Israel of US-Born Lone Soldier: ‘We May Not Know Him, but He’s Family’
Jordan Cooper. Photo: Screenshot
Several thousand people on Tuesday evening attended the funeral of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fighter Jordan Cooper, a reservist and lone soldier originally from the US, who passed away after a rare allergy attack.
Cooper’s family called on the public to attend his funeral, explaining that several family members could not make it to Israel in time because many flights from the US were canceled amid rising tensions with Iran.
Crowds filled every inch of Ganei Esther Cemetery in Rishon Lezion. The funeral was held at 10 pm on Tuesday evening, just two hours after the Tisha B’av fast, which marks the saddest day in the Jewish calendar.
Mourners attend Jordan Cooper’s funeral. Photo: Taken by author
Cooper’s mother, Marla, who was visiting her son from the US, had bought halva at a market, after being assured by the vendor that it was nut-free. Despite using an EpiPen after consuming the halva, Jordan experienced a severe allergic reaction. He collapsed in front of his family as the ambulance arrived and was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
“It’s just amazing to think that no one thought twice about coming so soon after a 25-hour fast,” mourner Reut Levy, from Modiin, told The Algemeiner.
Asked if she knew the deceased personally, Levy responded, “No. But did anyone here? We saw a WhatsApp message to come so we came. This is the essence of am yisrael,” she said, referring to the Hebrew term for the people of Israel.
Moshe Gal said he had driven a couple of hours from Haifa to attend Cooper’s funeral. “We came to show we care. We may not know him, but he’s family nonetheless,” Gal said. “Who is like you, Nation of Israel?”
Lia Kiral, who lives opposite the cemetery with her mother and brother, said they always made an effort to attend funerals there. “We came to pay our last respects to this soldier, who came here to serve,” said Kiral, who had an Israeli flag draped around her soldiers.
Lia Kiral at Jordan Cooper’s funeral. Photo: Taken by author
Cooper’s father, Russ, choked up as he eulogized his son, visibly moved by the thousands of people who responded to the last-minute call to attend. “This is the reason he came to this country. Because of all of you,” he said.
Cooper had immigrated to Israel in 2018 through the Garin Tzabar program for lone soldiers with no immediate family in the Jewish state and served in the Nahal infantry brigade. After completing his military service, he returned to his hometown in Pennsylvania but came back to Israel following the outbreak of war on Oct. 7 to fight in his reserve unit on the northern border. He fought for 200 consecutive days before his release on July 18. During that time, Cooper had made the decision to stay in Israel, marry his girlfriend Valery, and serve as a career officer in the Border Police.
Last week, Cooper met with his reserve unit at the hospital to visit their commander, who had lost his leg during an operation in Gaza. Cooper was determined to help the commander obtain a robotic leg from the United States, his close friend Raphael Portgang was cited by the Ynet news site as saying.
Another friend, Chaimon Blumfield, told mourners on Tuesday night that Cooper fought hard to rejoin his army unit, which told him that it was at 120 percent capacity. He played a WhatsApp voice message to the crowd. “Try to help me fight. I want to serve in this war; I want to go into Gaza,” Cooper said in the message.
Ethan Cooper eulogized his brother, saying he would do everything to preserve his legacy. “I’ll find him in every place in my life, and I’ll be strong for him forever.”
The post Thousands Attend Funeral in Israel of US-Born Lone Soldier: ‘We May Not Know Him, but He’s Family’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.