Aby Volcovich, 26-27, was born in Mexico and moved to Canada when he was six. Volcovich told the My Israel Narrative YouTube channel: “I grew up in Canada in a very Zionist upbringing, a very strong connection to Israel, always going to UJA ‘Walk With Israel.’ I was also in NCSY. Overall, I did summer trips to Israel, bar mitzvahs of cousins and what not. So, very connected to Israel.”

He goes on: “And then when I was 18, I took a gap year […] On my gap year I decided that I want to make aaliyah, I want to join the army. So I did that through Nefesh B’Nefesh and also through Garin Tzabar. Joined and drafted into the Nachal Brigade. I was a lone soldier at first, and then afterwards, after a year of being here in Israel alone, with other lone soldiers, my family also decided to make aaliyah. […] I finished the army, then travelled for a little bit. Finished university […] And now that I finished my degree I actually started working in a non-profit called DiploAct, which does hasbara and helping with Israeli image around the world, public diplomacy. And literally after a month of working there the war began.”

Volcovich added that he was drafted into the military in November 2016 and rose to the rank of commander, got released in 2019, and has done reserve duty since, including participating in the war on Gaza.

An Instagram post from someone claiming to have grown up living beside Volcovich states that he “went to Associated and CHAT,” referring to the Associated Hebrew School and TanenbaumCHAT, a private Jewish day school and high school, respectively.

Volcovich believes the Israeli military reflects Jewish values: “I know wholeheartedly that we’re doing the best possible to be as humane. The Jewish values that we really believe in, I believe that the IDF is really going and doing those values.”

He has documented his time in Gaza on Instagram, and also spoken about it in Canada. He was featured in a March 2024 event at the Montreal Holocaust Museum where he spoke about being a lone soldier, which ended up attracting international attention due to protests outside the venue.

Volcovich’s parents, Moy and Mery Volcovich, shot a video in October 2023 calling on people to make donations to buy equipment for Aby and his unit. Moy is a professional photographer that has published several books.