Nechemiah Cohen ( he, נחמיה כהן; April 30, 1943 – June 5, 1967) is the most decorated soldier in the history of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF). He shares this honour with close friend and former Prime Minister

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...

, and Major Amitai Hason. He received five decorations – one Medal of Distinguished Service and four Chief Of Staff Citations. Cohen was killed in

combat Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

near the City of Gaza on June 5, 1967, the first day of the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

, aged 24. His older brother

Eliezer Cohen Eliezer Cohen ( he, אליעזר כהן, born 18 June 1934) is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu and the National Union between 1999 and 2006. Biography Eliezer Cohen was born in Jerusalem. H ...

served as a fighter pilot and was a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Nechemya 1943 births 1967 deaths Israeli soldiers Israeli military personnel killed in action Israeli military casualties of the Six-Day War Burials at Mount Herzl Israeli people of Turkish-Jewish descent