Jonathan Fader, 37-38, was born and raised in Canada, growing up in Richmond, B.C. In 2014, Fader said that he is a “proud Jew,” and while secular and “not a fan of religion” he “felt the call to Israel.” As a result, after finishing high school, he moved to Israel in 2008 to join the Israeli military (though he had previously considered joining the Canadian army). He served in the Givati Brigade from 2009 to 2011. The brigade received international attention in 2022 after some of its soldiers were accused and later found guilty of spitting at the Armenian archbishop and other Christian pilgrims during a procession in Jerusalem.

Fader made headlines during his time in the military after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited a training exercise he was participating in. Netanyahu asked Fader where he was from, and after being told Canada, Netanyahu offered to take Fader to the country with him on a flight scheduled for the next week. Fader accepted the offer.

After returning to Canada, Fader decided to open a Krav Maga gym with another person who had lived in Israel, called Urban Tactics Krav Maga in Burnaby, B.C. In August 2014, Fader published a post on LinkedIn about his business titled, “An Open Letter to Canadian Jews… And Any one else who wants to protect themselves.” He urged Jews in Canada to learn krav maga, writing, “So here it is, my plea to you, the Jewish Community of Canada. Wake Up, stop being naive it can happen to you too. Radical islam is coming to a town near you. I am asking you to please take it seriously and find your local Krav Maga gym and start learning to protect yourself. If there is none near by, at the very least find the most comparable style, Just learn something!” Fader’s LinkedIn also notes that from 2012 to 2019 he was completing a psychology degree at Kwantlen University College in Surrey, B.C.