Ryan Blatsein, American Man Who Flew to Israel to Fight Hamas Reported Dead

Ryan Blastein, an American man who travelled to Israel with his father, Bart Blastein – the owner of Showboat Atlantic City – to fight Hamas, has died.

Laura Goldman, a freelance producer with Good Morning America and a personal friend of Bart’s, reported the sad death of his son via her social media pages.

Goldman gave very few details aside from giving a few details about Ryan.

She wrote: “I’m heartbroken to announce the sudden passing of Ryan Blatstein, the son of real estate developer Bart Blatstein and his wife Jil. Big Ry, as he was affectionately known, was a vocal supporter of the Philadelphia Police and loved to take road trips across the United States,”

Ryan and his father were in the news at the start of the year after deciding to travel to Israel to volunteer in the war against Hamas.

Bart told Goldman, who covered the news for Good Morning America, that he remembers his childhood when Israel fought the six day war and he was helpless hence he wanted to help out this time.

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“October 7th changed me forever. I always felt an underlying antisemitism in the world, but never could I imagine the viciousness of what is happening now…Since the outbreak of the war, I have felt angry, sad, scared and shocked,” he said.

“Everyone in Israel was called into service and 250,000 Israelis from around the world dropped whatever they were doing and flew home to Israel. It was then that I realized that I needed to go to serve in any capacity. I signed us up a few days ago thru a process thru Sar El,”

Bart and his son were hailed for their actions, leaving behind their lives in the U.S. to face danger in Israel.

Tragically, Ryan has now lost his life, leaving his father grief-stricken and facing the most nightmarish scenario for any parent.

Ryan’s funeral has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 6, at Goldstein’s on Broad Street at 10 am.

His family, friends and Jewish community leaders are all expected to attend.

Ryan exemplified a higher ideal in his life, choosing to sacrifice a comfortable life to face danger in a far away land as a way to defend his people.

Many can say that in theory but not many will actually do that if it comes down to it. In that vein, he deserves a ton of praise.

May he rest in peace.