Abi Har Even

Aby Har Even (; March 7, 1937 – June 6, 2021) was an Israeli military scientist and the fifth Director General of the Israeli Space Agency (1995-2004). Har Even was instrumental to the Israeli space program, served pivotal roles in the Israel Aerospace Industries and was one of the founders of the IDF's missile and advanced weaponry programs. He was recipient of the Israel Defense Prize in 1977.

He died 6 June 2021 at the age of 84 as a result of injuries during an arson attack, during Arab riots in Acre.

Youth and military service Har Even was born in Romania on 7 March 1937 as Abba Hartstein. His family immigrated to Israel in August 1950. In 1955 he graduated from the Rehavia Gymnasium in Jerusalem. Following his graduation he started to learn Mechanical engineering at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology as part of the academic reserve program but a few weeks into the program it was stopped and all the participants were drafted into the artillery corps and armored corps.

Har Even served initially in the artillery corps and was sent to officers course, initially intending to pursue a military career. During his army service he attended the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and graduated as an electrical engineer in 1963. For the following years, Har Even served in the artillery corps in various R&D positions. During his studies the responsibility of anti-aircraft missiles moved to the Air Force.

During his military service Har Even graduated with an MBA from the Tel Aviv University in 1975.

In 1982, Har Even joined the Israel Aerospace Industries, where he served in a number of administrative and R&D positions. Initially he was head of the special programs administration and afterwards was asked to head the team that developed Israel's Shavit satellite launcher.

Har Even continued to be a consultant to the Israeli Ministry of economics on space issues.

2021 May Riots Har Even was seriously injured during the May riots in Acre. The hotel in which he was staying was burned, and Har Even was hospitalized with severe burns. He died, six weeks later, on June 6, 2021, at the age of 84. According to Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, the killing of the Israeli nuclear scientist is in response to the killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Family Har Even married Miriam in 1959. They have 3 children, one of whom is Yoav Har-Even.