Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Son of Israeli Evangelist Dies in Malaysia Airlines Shoot-Down Over Ukraine

The 27-year-old Israeli son of a well-known Christian evangelist was among the 298 victims who died when Malaysian airlines flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine.

Dov Avnon, Itamar Avnon’s father, announced his son’s death on Facebook, the Ma’ariv daily reported Friday.

“They say life is short – yes it is true,” wrote his Israeli-born father, who lives in the Netherlands and describes himself as a Christian with a Jewish background. “I am happy that he grew up with the bible and the faith that Christ died for him on the cross,” he wrote.

An acquaintance of Itamar Avnon told JTA he was in the Netherlands for a wedding and was on his way to Australia, where he studied, via Malaysia. Itamar Avnon served in the Israel Defense Forces as a paratrooper in 2007. Dov Avnon and his wife, Jeannet, have two other children, Jonathan and Ruth.

Israel’s embassy in the Netherlands offered condolences to the families of the 298 victims of the crashed plane, including 173 Dutch citizens.

The plane is believed to have been downed Thursday in Ukraine’s east, possibly by pro-Russian separatists.

“The Embassy of Israel on behalf of the people of Israel would like to express its sorrow and offer sincere condolences to the Dutch people and to all the families of those who have tragically lost their lives today on the Malaysian flight MH17,” the embassy said in a statement Thursday on its Facebook page.

In its statement, the U.S. State Department wrote: “The United States is shocked by the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, and we offer our deep condolences to all those who lost loved ones on board. May their memory be blessed.”

The plane, which left for Malaysia from the Netherlands, carried up to 100 scientists, activists, researchers and health workers who were on their way to Melbourne, Australia for a conference about Aids, The Daily Telegraph of London reported.

Irgoen Olei Holland, a group representing Dutch-born Israelis, also offered its condolences to the Dutch embassy in Tel Aviv, the group said in a statement Friday.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.