“In his role as director of the Israel Space Agency, he promoted the agency’s foreign relations and was the first to place it at the center of the global space industry. Due largely to the work of Har-Even, Israel to this day is a space power on a global scale,” said Blasberger.

Har-Even also won the Israel Defense Prize for efforts that remain secret to this day.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said, “I heard with great sorrow about the death of Avi Har-Even, winner of the Israel Defense Prize, former director of the Space Agency, who contributed greatly to Israel’s security in ways that will never be recounted.”

Akko was one of a number of mixed Arab-Jewish cities rent by violence which began in Jerusalem’s Old City in April and spread throughout Israel. During the disturbances in Akko, Arab rioters threw rocks, torched several hotels, burned boats in the port, attacked Jewish passersby and raised a Palestinian flag in the center of the city.

Following the riots, as part of a two-week “Operation Law and Order,” the Israel Police arrested 2,214 suspects and seized 970 illegal weapons across the country.