The three "Oz Tzion" prizewinners, awarded as part of the Moskowitz Prize for Zionism, were announced on Wednesday after three outstanding Zionists living in Israel were selected by the prize committee.
Those honored by the $100,000 prize to be distributed between the three, which was established by Miami-based philanthropists Dr. Irving and Cherna Moskowitz, include former MKs Rabbi Benny Elon and Yehuda Harel, as well as senior journalist Caroline Glick.
Former Tourism Minister Rabbi Benny Elon was recognized by the prize committee as having a deep impact on the nationalist camp in Israel for the last several decades. He strengthened the Jewish presence in various parts of eastern Jerusalem and in Rachel's Tomb, adjacent to Bethlehem in Judea.
The former National Union party minister also helped unify the nationalist camp into a political force, and advanced an alternate policy approach to that of the 1994 Oslo Accords. He also has created a chain of parliamentary lobby groups unifying pro-Israeli parliamentarians worldwide.
As part of his work to fight for the unified nature of Jerusalem, Rabbi Elon initiated the establishment of the Beit Orot Yeshiva on Mount Scopus and served as its dean, fought to close the Palestinian "Orient House," and worked to increase the Jewish presence in the eastern part of the capital.
After quitting the Knesset, he has served as president of the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF), which is active in the US Congress and 30 parliaments worldwide to increase Israel's standing.
Senior journalist Caroline Glick was also named as a prize-winner. Glick made aliyah from the US in 1991 after completing her bachelor's degree in political science at Columbia University, where she led the Zionist students on campus and organized protests and seminars for Israel. She later returned to the US briefly to obtain a master's degree from Harvard University in public policy.
Immediately after her aliyah Glick volunteered for IDF service, and served as an officer in the military prosecutor's office for five-and-a-half years, during which time she helped compile the book in English: "Israel, the Intifada and International Law."
Glick, who is also deputy editor of the Jerusalem Post, established the satirical site Latma at the start of 2009, which gained great popularity for its clever way of poking fun at the current events. Latma also ran in English, often exerting a strategic influence on Israel's standing at times of crisis such as during the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident.
In 2014 she released her book "The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East," which for the first time explained not only why the two-state solution is destined for failure and how a Palestinian state is an existential threat to Israel, but also proposed an alternate path of annexing Judea and Samaria.
In 2015 she joined the Maariv staff in Hebrew, in addition to her writing in the Jerusalem Post and Makor Rishon.
The third winner of the prize is former MK Yehuda Harel, who was key in driving the establishment of Jewish towns in the Golan Heights after its liberation from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War, and fighting to keep and annex the strategic region.
Harel, who was born in Berlin in 1934 as his parents worked to rescue Jews from the rising Nazi regime, studied history at Tel Aviv University and went on to teach and lecture.
From his youth he supported Israeli sovereignty over the entire land by establishing Jewish communities in all regions.
After serving in the Knesset, Harel concentrated on strategic planning for the communities in the Golan and specifically Katzrin at the Golan Research Institute.