Jewish Communities to Remember 3 Kidnapped Israeli Teens With Unity Day
Crowds gather to mourn at funeral of Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, 16. Image by Getty Images
Jewish communities will mark the first anniversary of the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens by Palestinian terrorists with a Unity Day.
The commemoration, set for June 3, was developed by the parents of Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shear and Eyal Yifrach in conjunction with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and the Gesher organization. Organizations representing over 1 million people in Israel and around the world have agreed to participate, according to project organizers.
“The kidnappings of our boys marks one of the more difficult moments in Israel’s modern history,” the parents said in a joint statement. “But the reality is that out of this bitter tragedy came a spirit of unprecedented unity amongst the Jewish people. Our commitment is to ensure that this sense of unity remains alive — this is the mission of Unity Day.”
Among the events to be held on Unity Day are text-based study, social justice initiatives, community art projects and home-based discussions for families.
Also on June 3, the first Jerusalem Unity Prize in memory of the teens will be awarded at the president’s residence by President Reuven Rivlin. A special committee of communal leaders from across Israel and the Diaspora was chosen to work with Barkat and the three families to identify worthy recipients.
Unity Day and the prize are being funded in part by Robert and Amy Book, Ronnen Harary, David and Sarena Koschitzky, Ira and Ingeborg Rennert, Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein, and the UJA-Federation of New York.
The three teens were abducted from a bus stop in Alon Shvut, located in the Etzion bloc of the West Bank, on June 12, 2014. Their bodies were discovered 18 days later, following a massive search, in a shallow grave in a field near Hebron. A recording of an emergency call made by one of the teens to police and the interior of the car used to abduct them indicated that they were killed shortly after being abducted.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
