Unity Prize Created in Memory of Murdered Israeli Teens

A new prize for promoting national unity was established on Thursday in memory of the three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped and killed by Palestinian terrorists last June.

The Yerushalayim Prize for National Unity was announced by Yerushalayim Mayor Nir Barkat in conjunction with the parents of murdered yeshivah students Naftali Frankel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yiftah, Hy”d, as well as Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, President Reuven Rivlin and outreach organizations.

The prize will be awarded in three areas: for outstanding work towards national unity; for initiative and social entrepreneurship; for improving ties between Israel and the Diaspora.

Avraham Frankel explained the motivation for the prize.

“We felt that we were not alone and we wanted to maintain the spirit of that time, so that Jews around the world will be linked by that inner spark of solidarity that existed then.”

What happened to Eyal, Gilad and Naftali, said Uri Yifrah, created a new spirit of solidarity which “brought us to another place, and we felt a duty both to the nation and our sons.”

“As parents we have to cope with our own personal pain each day,” said Ofer Shaer, “but in memory of our sons we want to create something living and lasting in the spirit of unity that accompanied us during the worst period of our lives. This is an opportunity to promote mutual respect, tolerance and dialogue, despite existing differences.”

This article appeared in print on page 7 of the January 16th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.