The Israel Prize award ceremony will be held in the city of Sderot this year, Education Minister Yoav Kisch announced Thursday.
The ceremony will be held on Israel's Independence Day as is customary every year. This year, months after the Hamas massacre of October 7, the decision was made to hold the ceremony in Sderot, one of the communities of southern Israel that were attacked by Hamas terrorists that day.
In light of the massacre and the ongoing war, Minister Kisch decided that the ceremony would be held this year as a sign of revival, civic heroism, and civic responsibility with special recognition for the Israeli citizens who demonstrated extraordinary bravery and made a significant contribution to the revival from that dark day.
In addition to the three "revival" awards, two lifetime achievement awards and nine awards in other professional categories will be awarded this year.
"This year, we will hold the Israel Prize ceremony together with the heroic residents of the Gaza periphery in the city of Sderot. The State of Israel is at war, we will cherish our soldiers who are at the front, we will remember our kidnapped brothers and sisters, and we will praise as a miracle the bravery of the spirit that has pulsated in us as a people since the dawn of history," said Minister Kisch.