Daniel Raab

Last updated

Daniel Raab
Allegiance Israel
Branch Israel Defense Forces
Rank Staff sergeant
Battles / wars Gaza war
Alma mater University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (BS)
Spouse(s)
Omer Shafir
​
(m. 2025)​

Daniel Raab is an Israeli and American soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Raab was born to Benjamin Raab and Melissa Mall Raab Mendelson, and raised in Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. [1] [2]

Raab attended Naperville Central High School, where he was a varsity basketball player. [3]

He attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he was president of Students Supporting Israel and an executive committee member of the Illini Public Affairs Committee (IlliniPAC), a pro-Israel advocacy group. [4] [5] [6] [7] Raab graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in molecular and cellular biology. [5]

On July 11, 2021, Raab spoke at “No Fear: A Rally in Solidarity With the Jewish People” on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. [8]

Career

Raab is a staff sergeant and sniper in the IDF, and has participated in the Gaza war. [9]

On October 9, 2023, Raab's mother posted on Facebook that a nonprofit registered as “Friends of Paratrooper Sniper Unit 202,” needed “helmets, rain gear, barrels, vests, sniper stands, silencers, camouflage, and the list goes on.” [2] [10] The nonprofit's 2023 Form 990 tax exemption form lists Raab's father Benjamin as the principal officer, with $304,983 in gross receipts for the year. [2]

In October 2024, independent Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi posted a 38-minute documentary on the IDF's Ghost Units investigating the killing of unarmed civilians in Gaza. [9] Raab gave an interview for the documentary, noting how his unit shot unarmed civilians. [11] Raab stated:

If they are in an area designated as a combat zone, and they are men of military age, then we shoot. The question of women and children is debated with command... As a sniper, you have a lot of independence, a lot of responsibility, and a lot of room for judgement... In some cases, they say yes or no, and in others, they say yes when you think it should be no... and then it’s up to you. You shoot." [9]

In September 2025, The Guardian published an investigation showing Raab shot and killed 19-year-old Salem Doghmosh on November 22, 2023. [1] [12] Salem was unarmed and Raab noted he shot him because he was trying to retrieve the body of his older brother Mohammed. [1] In an interview, Raab stated "It's hard for me to understand why he [did that] and it also doesn't really interest me. I mean, what was so important about that corpse?” [1] Raab said that it was "wrong" for Palestinians to think that they would not be shot because they were "wearing civilian clothes" and were "not carrying a weapon", with Raab further specifying: "That's what you have snipers for." [1] Raab elaborated that his sniper team would shoot unarmed Palestinians based on "distance. There is a line that we define. They don't know where this line is, but we do." [1]

Raab's partner was subsequently identified as Daniel Graetz, an IDF sniper from Munich, Germany. [1]

On September 11, 2025, the CAIR-Chicago issued a press release urging the United States Department of Justice to open an investigation against Raab under the War Crimes Act. [13] [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Osman, Hoda; Graham-Harrison, Emma (2025-09-09). "The Gaza family torn apart by IDF snipers from Chicago and Munich". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on September 9, 2025. Retrieved 2025-09-10.
  2. 1 2 3 Vanderlip, Sami. "U.S. Nonprofit Raised $300,000 for Israeli Sniper Unit Associated With Killings of Unarmed Palestinians". www.dropsitenews.com. Retrieved 2025-09-10.
  3. 1 2 Issa, Nader (2025-09-12). "Israeli military sniper from Chicago suburbs killed apparently unarmed man in Gaza, investigation finds". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  4. ↑ Miller, Yvette Alt (2021-05-25). "Chicago Israel Rally Turns Violent". Aish.com. Archived from the original on 2022-08-01. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
  5. 1 2 Troher, Matt; Anderson, Farrah (2021-04-26). "A campus divided against itself". The Daily Illini. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved 2025-09-10.
  6. ↑ Bandler, Aaron (2019-10-14). "University of Illinois Chancellor Condemns 'Anti-Semitic Content' in Housing Staff Meeting Presentation". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2025-09-10.
  7. ↑ Jatoi, Qaasim (2025-09-10). "UI alum part of IDF sniper unit, Guardian report finds". The Daily Illini. Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  8. ↑ Gottlieb, Bryan (2021-07-22). "Antisemitism Rally in Washington Gave This Father and Daughter Lessons in How to Combat Hatred". thejewishnews.com. Retrieved 2025-09-10.
  9. 1 2 3 "French justice to challenge Israeli 'impunity' over alleged Gaza civilian executions". RFI. 2025-07-11. Archived from the original on August 1, 2025. Retrieved 2025-09-10.
  10. ↑ "Friends of Paratroop Sniper Unit 202 - GuideStar Profile". www.guidestar.org. Retrieved 2025-09-10.
  11. ↑ "Complaint filed against two French-Israeli soldiers accused of war crimes in Gaza". Le Monde. 2025-07-01. Retrieved 2025-09-10.
  12. ↑ Amann, Susanne; Antoniadis, Nikolai; Christoph, Maria; Laufer, Daniel; Mulot, Tobias; Obermaier, Frederik; Osman, Hoda; Retter, Maria; Röhreke, Friederike (2025-09-10). "(S+) Gaza: Israelischer Soldat aus München soll Unbewaffnete erschossen haben". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN   2195-1349 . Retrieved 2025-09-10.
  13. ↑ "CAIR-Chicago Urges DOJ to File War Crime Charges Against Naperville Man Who Joined IDF, Admitted Sniping Children" . Retrieved 2025-09-11.
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