Yehuda Glick
Yehuda GlickMiriam Alster/Flash 90

Yehuda Glick, the Temple Mount activist who was shot four times at point-blank range by an Arab terrorist in Jerusalem last October and miraculously survived, has been picked as one of the winners of the celebrated Moskowitz Prize for Zionism.

Glick, who is to be granted a Lion of Zion Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony on May 19 along with two other outstanding Zionists, was recognized for championing efforts to get equal Jewish prayer rights at the holiest site in Judaism, where the Jordanian Waqf enjoys de facto control and has forbidden Jewish prayer in spite of Israeli laws granting religious freedom.

The activist was shot by terrorist Mu'taz Hijazi outside the Begin Heritage Center where he had spoken at an event about the Temple Mount. The terrorist was later killed in a shoot-out with police, while Glick was left unconscious and fighting for his life. After several surgeries, during which parts of his lungs and intestines were removed, Glick pulled through and survived the attempt on his life.

Hijazi had previously served 11 years in prison for terrorism, but nevertheless was employed at the Terasa restaurant in the Begin Heritage Center where Glick was shot. The Palestinian Authority (PA) praised the terrorist as a "hero defending freedom," and after initially pledging to demolish his home, the state of Israel later folded and made do with just demolishing his room.

Aside from Glick, the other winners of the award are Yisrael Har'el, a journalist and founder of the Land of Israel Settlement Movement, along with Yoel Zilberman, founder of the New Guardians (Hashomer Hehadash) project which defends Jewish farmers and their properties in the Galilee and Negev.

A $100,000 prize is to be distributed between the three recipients at the May 19 ceremony, which will be attended by Dr. Irving and Cherna Moskowitz, the Miami-based philanthropists who established the prize.

The Moskowitz Prize also includes a Spirit of Zion Award given to young Zionists beginning to make an impact in improving Israel.

The winners for the 2015 prize in this category are Tirael Cohen, founder of the Kedma student villages advancing social action and settlement, along with Shira Lorentz, who founded an organization supporting Jewish immigrants volunteering to do national service without the benefit of having family in Israel.

Along with a monetary award, the two will receive expert advice during the span of a year to help guide their efforts.

The prize winners were selected by a committee including former Defense Minister Prof. Moshe Arens, Brig. Gen. (res.) Avigdor Kahalani, Ambassador Yoram Ettinger and Rabbanit Esther Jungreis.