Former Prisoner of War and His Son Now Serve Side by Side in the IDF

Nearly four decades after surviving captivity and torture in a Syrian prison, Israeli thoracic surgeon Professor Nahum Nesher is once again in uniform this time, serving shoulder to shoulder with his son on Israel’s northern front.

In one of the most stirring examples of national service and familial devotion, Nahum and his son Koren are part of Battalion 920 on the Syrian border, together completing 250 days of reserve duty. For Nahum, now a leading physician at Ichilov Hospital, the return to the battlefield marks a full-circle moment defined by courage and conviction.

In 1984, Nahum was captured while serving in an intelligence role for the IDF. Imprisoned in the infamous Al-Mezzeh prison in Damascus, he was tortured and interrogated, narrowly escaping with his life. "I got out by the skin of my teeth," he remembers. "I’m probably the only person ever to voluntarily return to the country where he was once taken prisoner."

Despite that trauma, Nahum has never turned away from his commitment to Israel. He has served numerous times in the reserves, most recently in 2005 as the medical commander of the Home Front Command’s elite search-and-rescue unit. But it was during the aftermath of the Hamas massacre in 2023 that the next chapter in his story began.

While treating victims, Nahum received a call from Koren. A student of law and business at Reichman University, Koren told his father that he had decided to serve in the reserves as a paratrooper despite a prior injury in South America that could have exempted him. His words sparked a decision that speaks volumes about their bond and shared values.

“Like a true dad, he didn’t ask questions,” Koren said. “He just said, ‘I’m coming with you.’”

Today, the two march together, medical pack in hand and rifle slung over the shoulder, united by duty and a deep love for their homeland. “We’re not blind or stupid,” Nahum says. “We see what’s happening around us. If no one protects the border, we won’t have a country.”

Their service is more than symbolic. It represents a living legacy of survival, of sacrifice, and of the enduring commitment that defines the spirit of Israel.

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