For the 11th year in a row, the recipients of the Jerusalem Unity Prize—established in memory of the three yeshiva students murdered by terrorists in the summer of 2014—were announced on Wednesday during a ceremony at the President’s Residence.
The three boys, Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaer, and Naftali Frankel, were hitchhiking and entered a car whose passengers resembled Orthodox Jews. But in fact, they were Palestinian terrorists.
Until the bodies of the boys were recovered many days later, their fate remained unknown, but the nation reached out to their parents in a spectacular display of solidarity and concern.
In light of this, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, together with the boys' parents—Iris and Uri Yifrach, Bat-Galim and Ofir Shaer, and Racheli and Avi Frankel—launched a joint initiative: an annual Unity Prize to commemorate the profound sense of national unity that emerged during their time of tragedy and to honor the memory of their sons.
The annual event, which led to the passing of a Unity Day law in the Knesset, is a reminder that togetherness and hope were so tangible during the 18 days from the time when the boys were kidnapped to when their bodies were found.
A sense of unity and solidarity
A similar sense of unity and solidarity has marked the cohesive aspects of Israeli society since October 7, 2023.
Jerusalem Unity Prizes are substantial awards given to individuals, organizations, and initiatives in Israel and throughout the Jewish world whose actions are advancing mutual respect among members of Jewish communities in times of crisis and also in daily life.
Since its inception, Unity Day has evolved into a global movement involving schools, youth organizations, synagogue congregations, and Jewish communities at large in activities, dialogue, and inspiration.
At the ceremony on Wednesday, it was also linked to the hostages in Gaza and to the soldiers who are fighting in the north and the south. All speakers at the event referred to them and to families bereaved since October 7. It was also noted that Wednesday marked the 600th day of the war and the captivity of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas.
Prizes were awarded in the categories of educational institutions, local institutions, local authorities, national public organizations, international institutions, and national private Initiatives.
Winners were Amal Januh-Jat High School, which promotes Druze educational leadership, dialogue, advocacy, service, and tolerance through student initiatives; Amutat Kahan, which conducts in-depth methods of informal education to make the broader Israeli society aware of the Ethiopian Jewish heritage and to treat Ethiopians respectfully and as equals.
Prizes were also awarded to Migal HaEmek, where municipal leadership has succeeded in creating bridges between all strata of society, including different age groups, and Shira Banki’s Way, in memory of Shira Banki, who was murdered when she went to support her friends in a Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem. This year’s parade, which will be held next week, will also honor her memory. Her father, Uri Banki, said that he and his wife, Orit, will continue to work to promote tolerance.
Other winners were MASA, which connects young Jews from different countries through journeys to Israel; and Hanoch and Efrat Daum, who have dedicated themselves to helping reservists who are losing out on income because there is no one to run their businesses.
All speakers made the point that the Jerusalem Unity Prize was born out of pain. President Herzog drew a parallel with the pain that is being experienced by the hostages and their families, who he said are all living in hell. Yet, at the same time, most nations have a will to build a better society through partnership.
The president urged some of the more negative factors in society to stop pointing fingers of blame, and to refrain from calling anyone a traitor or an enemy. He was convinced that all the rifts in the nation could be healed if the sides sat down at the same table and discussed their differences in a reasonable manner.
Herzog also implied that it was time for the national leadership to listen to the voice of the public.
Economy and Industry Minister Barkat said that it was essential for the varied sectors of the public to find a common denominator and to refrain from cynicism during public discourse: “It’s not a matter of right or left, but a straight path,” he said in reference to unity and to bringing home the hostages."
Education Minister Yoav Kisch said that the enemy does not differentiate between right and left, religious and secular, or the periphery and the metropolis: “To them, we are all the same.” In a period of crisis, he added, it behoves the people of Israel to be united and forget their differences.
Speaking on behalf of the three families who initiated the prize, Bat-Galim Shaer, Gil-ad's mother, said that unity is not just a ceremony, a slogan, or a one-day event. Unity is something that should be practised year-round.
Shaer said that it had not been planned for Unity Day to coincide with the 600th day of the war. Still, she stressed that a new month in Jewish tradition is a time for unconditional love, mutual respect and healing.