Nechemya Cohen

Nechemya Cohen was born in 1943 in Jerusalem

Cohen was born in Jerusalem in 1943 to Shalom and Shoshana, who had immigrated from Turkey. His older brother, Eliezer Cohen, was an air force pilot and later a member of the Knesset. He went to elementary school in Beit HaKerem and then to Beit Hinuch high school in Jerusalem.

He joined the IDF in November 1961 and volunteered for Sayeret Matkal. After paratrooper basic training and unit training, he completed an infantry officers course in August 1963 and returned to the unit as a team commander. He led many operations, including Operation Kachal deep inside Egypt, for which he received the Medal of Distinguished Service.

In February 1967 he moved to the Paratroopers Brigade as deputy commander of a company in Battalion 202. On the first day of the Six-Day War, after his company commander fell, he took command and was killed in battle near Khirbet Zeitun in the Gaza Strip. He was later buried at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

A community center in Jerusalem, Beit Nechemya, and a youth scouting association run by his friends are named after him.