Israel Honors Diaspora Jews Murdered in Antisemitic Attacks

By COLlive reporter

The Israeli government officially commemorated Jews from the Diaspora who were murdered in antisemitic attacks outside of Israel’s borders in a first of its kind ceremony on Monday.

The event, led by the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, took place as part of Israel’s national observances and marked a significant shift in how the State of Israel recognizes Jewish victims of terror worldwide.

Families of victims, government officials, and Jewish leaders gathered at the New York offices of the World Zionist Organization (WZO) in a solemn tribute to those who were killed simply for being Jewish.

The event implemented a government resolution from May 2023 calling for official recognition of Diaspora Jews murdered in antisemitic attacks.

The committee is chaired by WZO chairman Yaakov Hagoel and Diaspora Affairs Ministry Director General Avi Cohen Scali, under the direction of Jewish Agency for Israel Secretary General Josh Schwarcz.

It also includes representatives from the Prime Minister’s office, WZO, Diaspora Affairs Ministry, National Security Council, and Jewish Agency.

Among those memorialized was Ari Halberstam, the 16-year-old Chabad yeshiva student murdered by a terrorist on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1994. His mother, Devorah Halberstam, who has spent three decades fighting for victims like her son and educating about the scourge of terrorism around the world, called the moment “long overdue.”

“I always knew there’s no line between a Jew and an Israeli Jew… After October 7th, we all know: Jews are one people,” Halberstam said.

“I’ve waited for this for 30 years,” said Halberstam. “Yad Vashem is one of the most significant landmarks in Israel documenting the Holocaust. There needs to be a permanent place in Israel memorializing Jews who were murdered outside of Israel. And especially Ari Halberstam, who was murdered because he was a Jew and in revenge for Hebron, is directly linked to Eretz Yisroel. This ceremony is a good beginning.”

Also memorialized was Leon Klinghoffer, a disabled American Jewish man who was shot, killed and thrown overboard from the cruise ship Achille Lauro by members of the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLO) who hijacked the ship in 1985.

His daughters, Ilsa Klinghoffer and Lisa Klinghoffer, said that ever since their father’s murder, they have dedicated themselves to educating the world about the deadly realities of terrorism. “We’re motivated, knowing that we are the human face of what for many is just abstract,” they said.

The Diaspora Affairs Ministry said it created a special public committee to examine proposals for victims who should be remembered, including submissions from the public.

People on the list will be remembered at certain national commemorations, such as those held on Memorial Day. There may also be an official state monument in the future. The government already recognizes at least 155 non-Israeli Jews who have been killed in antisemitic attacks as of June 2024, nine of them killed since October 7, 2023.

The criteria for inclusion required that the individual was targeted specifically for being Jewish and that the incident was officially recognized as antisemitic by local authorities. The ministry has opened submissions to the public for future ceremonies and potential inclusion in what may eventually become a national memorial site in Israel.

Israeli Consul General in New York Ofir Akunis said, “your family member paid the highest price, not in a battlefield, not wearing a uniform, but simply for being Jewish. And while no words can heal what has been taken, there is one thing we are here to say on behalf of the State of Israel – we have not forgotten – not one name, not one story, not one life. These acts of terror may have happened outside the state of Israel, but they were attacks against all of us as Jews.”