Hundreds of people gathered at the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul on Monday evening to lay IDF Paratrooper Sgt. Evyatar Yosefi to rest.
Yosefi, 20, was killed during a navigation exercise in harsh terrain in northern Israel on Sunday. He served in the Paratrooper Brigade's elite reconnaissance battalion.
He was knocked down when a flash flood hit the Nahal Hilazon creek south of Carmiel in the Galilee overnight Sunday. Yosefi was pulled from the waters over an hour later by soldiers from the IDF's search and rescue unit 669 and was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital.
Following the incident, ground forces commander Maj. Gen. Kobi Barak ordered all navigational exercises stopped.
During the course of the training, two other soldiers suffering from hypothermia were evacuated to Rambam Hospital in Haifa.
"You were my little brother," Itamar Yosefi, his brother, said. "I woke up this morning to the worst news of my life. I saw you as a role model."
He continued: "You were able to follow your heart, to stand guard and defend the nation. A week ago you told me how much you enjoyed the army. You were a person who aspired to serve in the highest places. Salt of the earth. Your death leaves a giant hole among us. I know you'll be with me forever, that you'll protect us from above. I promise to never forget you."
The Bnei Akiva Kiryat Herzog Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, where Yosefi studied, also eulogized him.
"Evyatar completed his studies at the yeshiva three years ago," the statement said. "A pleasant boy with a constant smile. Very much loved by his friends and teachers."
Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Wexler, head of the yeshiva, said: "It was easy to love Evyatar. … He always offered his help to the teachers, to the yeshiva and to his friends, and everyone knew that he could be trusted in any situation. He always aspired to success."
Yosefi's commander Lt. Col. Yishai Rosilio said, "You always chose the hard path. You were chosen from among many to be part of the sayeret [reconnaissance unit] and you served with distinction. I don't have the courage to use words of condolence in these difficult moments, [but] I will do everything we can to learn [Yosefi's] legacy and teach it to our fighters."
