Initiative: to promote Col. Ilan Ramon and give him the Israel Award

In the last two days, the IDF has been examining the possibility of awarding the rank of lieutenant colonel to the late Ilan Ramon. The security system believes that the tragic death of Ramon and the fact that he was a national symbol in his life and in his death, together with the seniority he gained as a lieutenant colonel, can earn him the ranks

A proposal to award the Israel Prize to the first Israeli astronaut, the late Ilan Ramon, was submitted to Education Minister Limor Livnet.

"This is a national hero, a space pilot and an Air Force pilot," he wrote in a proposal submitted to Livnat Avi Farhan, a member of the Likud office. Farhan states in his proposal that he is aware that it is not customary to award the Israel Prize to a person after his death and that the time has passed for the submission of candidates for the Israel Prize for the year XNUMX, however he asks Livnat to consider his proposal, due to Ramon's extraordinary work.

In the last two days, the IDF has been examining the possibility of awarding the rank of lieutenant colonel to the late Ilan Ramon. The security system believes that the tragic death of Ramon and the fact that he was a national symbol in his life and in his death, together with the seniority he gained as a lieutenant colonel, can earn him ranks.

Col. Ramon accumulated more than seven years of service in his current rank, and in any case he was expected to receive the rank of brigadier general upon his return to Israel. According to estimates, he was also supposed to coordinate the issue of space in the Air Force. The promotion discussion will take place only after Ramon's body is finally identified and he is officially declared an IDF victim.

The security system estimates that if it is decided to promote Ramon, the move will receive the approval of Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. The IDF spokesman stated in response that Lt. Col. Ramon is still considered missing and it is still too early to hold discussions on the issue.

In the meantime, the Airports Authority decided yesterday to name one of the main halls in the new terminal built in Netzburg after the late Ilan Ramon. The naming ceremony will take place near the opening of the new terminal, in early 2004.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Monday, the meeting of the Matkal Forum opened with a special ceremony to commemorate the Columbia ferry disaster. The American defense attaché in Israel, Colonel Timothy Murphy, was invited to the meeting. Chief of Staff Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon said at the ceremony: "In view of the dangers and challenges that threaten our shared values, the United States and Israel will stand together in the same spirit of friendship, vision and excellence that characterized the space team."
Minister Shalom met with Bush; He asked to add another Israeli astronaut to the space flights
Rona Ramon: I hope we bring Ilan to the burial in Israel
Last night Rona Ramon spoke with the President of the country Moshe Katsav and told him that she and her family members will soon arrive in Israel to bring her husband, the late Ilan Ramon, to the burial.
Israeli officials said that a final date for the funeral has not yet been set and for the time being it is also not possible to set such a date, as the remains of the bodies found near the parts of the spacecraft have not yet been identified.
The representative of the military rabbinate arrived in the US yesterday and joined the NASA identification team. The process of identifying the body parts will be carried out at the medical center of the US Air Force base Dover in the state of Delaware. The bodies of the astronauts who perished in the Challenger disaster, as well as the victims of the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, were previously identified at this base.
Rona Ramon, the widow of astronaut Ilan Ramon, announced yesterday that she intends to return to Israel with her children as early as next week. Ramon spoke on the phone yesterday with the president of the country, Moshe Katsav.

In the conversation, she told the president that she intends to hold a funeral for her husband in Israel, according to the religion of Moses and Israel - after his body is found and identified. Katsav told Ramon that he hoped she would have the mental strength to deal with her husband's death. "Ilan Ramon represented all of us," said Katsav to the widow, "the love for him in Israel skyrocketed. He became a revered figure."

Katsav told Ramon that he was particularly moved by the sanctification that her husband had done in space in front of all humanity, from his letter to the president, which was sent from space, in which Ramon told about the "Hear Israel" prayer he said when he saw Jerusalem, and from the fact that he asked to prevent the launch of the shuttle, which was originally scheduled for Tisha B'Av.

Katsav invited Rona Ramon and her family to the president's house when they returned to Israel, and offered to come to their house for a condolence visit.

MK Shimon Peres also spoke on the phone with Rona Ramon's mother yesterday, and consoled her for the disaster that befell her. "Although the journey ended in disaster, we lost the man, but we discovered his personality," Peres said. Peres added that Ilan Ramon uplifted and united the nation and will serve as a source of pride for every Israeli wherever he is.

Rona Ramon told Peres that she received an e-mail from Ilan from space, addressed to Peres, in which he wanted to thank him for coming up with the idea eight years ago to attach an Israeli to the American space program.

President of the United States George Bush will meet today with the families of the astronauts who perished in the Columbia disaster. According to his request, the president will meet privately with Rona Ramon. He will then participate in a memorial ceremony to be held at the Space Center in Houston.

Israel intends to submit a request to the Americans soon to add another Israeli astronaut to the American space program. Senior political officials said yesterday that despite the disaster, Israel will continue to be a partner in the United States' space project. However, the chances that an Israeli rocket will be attached to a space flight in the coming years are not great,
Because now all launches into space are expected to be postponed until the end of the investigation of the disaster. In addition, the ferries for the next two years are already staffed.

The IDF General Headquarters held a special discussion yesterday to commemorate the space shuttle disaster "Kulmovia" and the death of Ilan Ramon. "Lieutenant Colonel Ramon was sent on a mission by the State of Israel and the IDF, and thus was a source of national pride," said the Chief of Staff, Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon at the hearing.
The families: The space program must be continued

In Houston today, NASA issued an official statement from the families of those who perished: "On Thursday, January 16, we watched our loved ones take off into a clear sky without a single cloud. Their hearts were full of enthusiasm and pride, faith in God and a desire to take on the risks involved in the race to expand human knowledge, a race designed to benefit all humanity. Columbia's 16-day research mission, which was a great success, was cut short in its final minutes, but it will live on forever in our hearts. We want to thank the NASA family and people from around the world for the great love and support they have given us. Although we are grieving now, as the families of the Apollo 1 and Challenger casualties were before us, space exploration must continue resolutely. When the cause of the tragedy that befell us is found and corrected, Colombia's legacy deserves to be continued for the sake of our children and your children.
Aid fund for the astronauts' children

A special aid fund, which donated an amount of approximately 1.2 billion dollars for the families of the victims of the "Challenger" disaster, will invest similar efforts now - following the "Columbia" crash. This is what the director of the fund, Delbert Smith, said yesterday (Sunday).

The "Space Shuttle Children's Fund", which is considered a non-profit organization (non-profit), was established in 1986 with the support of NASA, to finance education and health services for the children of the Challenger shuttle victims.

Most of the amount collected by the fund was donated by private individuals and institutions. "The public responded with generosity and large-heartedness on an unprecedented scale," said Smith. "We received exciting letters from schools, and the students attached coins to them."

The director of the fund insisted on not disbanding even after the children had grown up, in case another disaster occurred. "It's terrible that after 17 years, we're going to do it again," Smith, a lawyer from Washington, says now. "There is a lot of sadness in doing this, but from our experience, we know that the need for assistance is great."

A special mailbox was opened to collect the donations for the 12 "Columbia" orphans - including Ilan Ramon's four children. The funds will be deposited in "Bank of America".
A commemorative site in memory of Ramon will be established at the Air Force Museum

In a memorial ceremony that took place on Sunday at the Makif C school in Be'er Sheva, the mayor, Ya'akov Turner, said that he would work to establish a memorial site in memory of Ilan Ramon at the Air Force Museum in Hasteriz. "We will commemorate him as one of Beer Sheva's greatest builders," said Turner.

In the moving ceremony, at the high school where Ramon studied in his youth, his classmates and the students who study there today took part.

"Everyone has their own Ilan Ramon," said Turner, "I have my own Ilan Ramon whom I met as an outstanding trainee in a flight course during the time when I was in command of the flight school. He stood out for his peace of mind and the modesty and sincerity he demonstrated. Ilan persevered in his tasks nobly and was like one of the people. A renewed connection was formed between us when he was chosen to be an astronaut. A few weeks before he left for space, he asked me to send him symbols of the city and the museum to take with him to space, and I did fulfill his request, and sent him flags."

At the ceremony, the school's students recited pieces of poetry in his memory, and sang the song "Zemar Noga" ("Hear My Voice") that his wife Rona sent him while he was in space.

Another of Ramon's classmates, Prof. Reuven Shagiv, from Ben-Gurion University, said: "He was a student with special qualities, which got him where he was. He didn't miss anything. stood out for his good qualities. He was a hero who became a legend."
Government officials: Bush will increase the NASA budget

Natan Gutman, Haaretz's envoy to Washington adds that: US President George Bush stated yesterday that the US will not give up the space program, despite the Columbia crash. "The US journey into space will continue," Bush said during a visit to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Officials in the administration stated that the president will work to increase the space agency's budget in the coming year, even though in the 2004 budget submitted today, there is only a small increase in the budget. The administration has not yet been asked to finance the construction of a new shuttle instead of Columbia and NASA has not yet decided whether it will submit such a request.

Bush met with NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe yesterday and assured him that the administration would continue to support the space program and continue to send astronauts. Since the crash, the president has devoted a significant portion of his time to dealing with the disaster and has expressed several times in public his hard feelings about the case.