Former director of the Israel Space Agency and Israel Prize laureate Avi Har-Even died Sunday of injuries sustained during recent rioting in Acre.
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Har-Even, 84 at the time of his death, was hospitalized at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for smoke inhalation after Arabs lit a fire at a hotel where he had been staying during the riots. Har-Even also sustained burns, and was in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator the entire time he was in the hospital.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said he had been grieved to hear that Har-Even had died, calling him "Someone who has contributed to the security of Israel is ways that will never be known. Avi, who was injured in the riots in Acre and died of those injuries, was a hero. When we confer this year's Israel Prize, we will remember him and his contribution."
Har-Even began his defense career in the IDF as an officer in the Armored and Artillery Corps. He was one of the founders of the IDF's missile and advanced weaponry programs. He also set up security for the nuclear facility in Dimona.
At the end of his military service, Har-Even served as director of a number of high-tech companies, and later moved to the Israel Aerospace Industries, where he served in a number of administrative and R&D positions. He also headed the team that developed Israel's Shavit satellite lift launch vehicle.
From 1995 to 2004, Har-Even served as director of the Israel Space Agency, where he expanded the ISA's international ties and helped bring about dozens of cooperative ventures between the ISA and other space agencies from around the world.
Current ISA director Professor Isaac Ben-Israel said that Har-Even "laid the foundations to build Israel's current space capabilities, and his contribution is worth its weight in gold."
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