Sgt. Lior Vishinski

May 12, 2004 - Sgt. Lior Vishinski, 20, of Ramat Gan was one of five IDF soldiers killed when their armored personnel carrier exploded, apparently hit by an anti-tank rocket.

The APC, part of a military convoy traveling on the border road between Egypt and Rafah on the Philadelphi Route, was transporting dozens of kilograms of explosives to be used to detonate weapon-smuggling tunnels along the Israeli-Egyptian border near Rafah. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, in which five were killed and three wounded.

Lior Vishinski, son of actor Shlomo Vishinski of the Cameri Theater and actress Osnat Giladi, completed his studies at the Ort High School in Givatayim. His father said that he volunteered to serve in the Engineering Corps unit responsible for destroying weapons smuggling tunnels in the Rafah area. “Two weeks ago he told me, 'Dad, I’m doing my job so you won’t have any more terror attacks, so they won’t get any more weapons,” said Shlomo Vishinski. Shlomo spoke of the special relationship between Lior and his sister Dana: He was her best friend. When he came home on leave, he would take her to the movies."

Lior's mother, Osnat, is married to actor Moti Giladi. Before the operation, Lior called his mother and told her he was going “to work”, meaning to blow up weapons smuggling tunnels. He would usually call again at the end of the operation, but this time he did not call.

Sgt. Lior Vishinski will be buried in the Kiryat Shaul military cemetery. He is survived by his parents, his sister Dana, 16, and his mother's daughter by her second marriage.