Senior Israeli officials will hold two events on June 3 in memory of a trio of teenagers who were abducted and murdered last summer by Hamas terrorists.
Unity Day and the Jerusalem Unity Prize would promote tolerance and cooperation between different sectors of the Jewish People in Israel and the Diaspora, organizers said. The prize winners, organizations and individuals who have excelled in promoting messages of unity through their work, will share an NIS 300,000 award ($75,000) in a ceremony to be hosted by President Reuven Rivlin.
The projects were organized by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat along with the parents of Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrah, who were abducted from a bus stop south of Jerusalem by two Hamas terrorists. They later murdered hem and hid their bodies.
“The Jerusalem Unity Prize and Unity Day serve to memorialize the three boys by strengthening the common bonds that exist within our Jewish people and encourage greater tolerance and mutual respect between all sectors of our greater community,” Barkat wrote in a statement to the Tazpit News Agency.
The students’ parents and families were acclaimed both in Israel and across the Jewish world for their strength and humility, both during, and after the 18-day ordeal in which the fate of their sons remained unclear.