First Sgt Vadim Norzhich

First Sgt. Vadim Norzhich and First Cpl. Yosef Avrahami, who had been called up for reserve army duty as drivers only a few days before, were apprehended by Palestinian police after they mistakenly entered the Palestinian controlled town of Ramallah. They were brought to Palestinian police headquarters in the center of Ramallah, where a violent mob of Palestinians stormed the building and tortured the soldiers to death, mutilating and defiling their bodies beyond recognition.

At a funeral in Or Akiva attended by thousands, Mikhail Norzhich eulogized his brother, saying that he had forced himself to look at newspaper photographs that documented the brutal death. "I saw my brother's blood on his murderers' hands," he said in a faltering voice. "At the hospital I asked that they open the coffin, and I saw what they did to him. Human beings can't do such a thing - only animals can. Mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, I beg you, don't descend to their level," he said. "Don't go and lynch. Let the army take care of them. I believe in our army."

Norzhich was also eulogized by Or Akiva's chief rabbi, the IDF Chaplain General, and the commander of the battalion in which the reservist served. Most of the mourners at the ceremony were new immigrants from the CIS.

Norzhich's widow Irena, who is three months pregnant, did not attend the funeral, due to concerns about her health.