His Father was Lynched in Ramallah; Today He Protects Israelis

Roey Avrahami was just five when his father was lynched on live television in Ramallah – but his memory stayed with him for life.

The son of an IDF soldier brutally lynched by Palestinian Arab terrorists in Ramallah fifteen years ago has enlisted to the Israel Police corps – and is determined to make his father’s story heard.

Reservists Yossi Avrahami and Vadim Nurzhitz lost their way to their base on October 12, 2000, ending up in the Palestinian Authority (PA) controlled city of Ramallah by mistake. PA police forces took the two into custody.

Word reached local PA residents that undercover Israeli agents were being held in the building; some 1000 rioters reportedly gathered outside. The IDF declined to take action to rescue the soldiers; they were eventually stormed by the rioters.

One terrorist, Aziz Salha, reached the soldiers first, where he brutally murdered them – stabbing, beating, and dismembering them along with other rioters. He famously then stuck his bloodstained hands out of the window of the room where the two were held, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

The crowd then dragged the bodies to a central square, beating them further before setting up a victory celebration. PA police forces did not attempt to intervene and in some cases, participated in the barbarism.

Finding the truth

Yossi’s son Roey Avrahami, 20, reflected to Walla! News on Sunday that his decision to join the Israel Police is the outcropping of learning the truth behind his father’s murder.