Education Minister Naftali Bennett called Rona Ramon “a hero of Israel.”
By Algemeiner Staff
The late Rona Ramon, who passed away in December at the age of 54 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, will be posthumously awarded an Israel Prize this year for her education activism, it was announced on Tuesday.
Among other efforts, Ramon – who tragically lost her husband, Ilan, in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and her son, Assaf, in a 2009 Israeli Air Force training accident – established the Ramon Foundation to promote youth interest in science and technology.
Ramon’s three surviving children – Tal, Yiftah, and Noa – said in a statement on Tuesday: “Our mother was able to take a life which was painful and turn it to a life-long mission that gives other people hope.”
Education Minister Naftali Bennett called Ramon “a hero of Israel in terms of generosity and light.”