"We were so close to celebrating such a joyous achievement -- side by side with our American friends -- and now, once again, we're plunged into tragedy and grief. It's unbelievable, and it weighs heavily on our hearts," Maj. Gen. (ret.) Eitan Ben-Eliahu, a former Israel Air Force commander, told Space News. Ben-Eliahu said he believed that the already close, institutional ties between Israel and the United States would likely be strengthened by the shared loss.

In a terrorism-plagued nation that has grown stoic and accepting of tragedy, the abrupt and unexpected loss of the shuttle left many here uncharacteristically in denial and disbelief.

Shortly after broadcasts of the disaster began to fill the airwaves -- prior to U.S. President George W. Bush's declaration all the astronauts aboard Columbia had perished -- Israel's Government Press Office distributed a puzzling statement: "The government and the people of Israel pray together with the whole world for the safety of the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia... The State of Israel and its citizens stand... with a joint prayer to God the Creator that the astronauts will return safely to their families."

It was only hours later that Maj. Gen. Dani Haloutz, commander of the Israel Air Force, convened a press conference in Tel Aviv to express condolences to the family of Ilan Ramon and the other six astronauts on the mission. "From here, we are sending our condolences to the American people, to our friends in NASA and to the families of the six American astronauts. Col. Ilan Ramon was a a friend, a commander and a soldier; a professional with an engaging personality and above all -- a Mentsch," Haloutz said invoking the Yiddish term for a well-rounded and honorable man.

Haloutz shared part of an e-mail he received from Ramon less than 24 hours prior to his planned touchdown at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In it, Ramon told his commander how proud he was to be representing Israel in space. "It is a great privilege for me to be in the Air Force family for more than 30 years now, and an honor to represent all of you here in space, opening a new vision and way -- air and space are one continuum -- and here we are, in space!"

The Israel Air Force today commemorated Ramon's passing with the unprecedented grounding of Ramon's frontline F-16 fighter squadron. As for memorial services, Israel's defense attache in the United States and the Israel Air Force attache are now with Ramon's wife Rona, their four children, and extended family who were in the United States to mark the planned Feb. 1 celebratory landing.

Other extended family members are enroute to the United States, where they all intend to participate in NASA-planned memorial events prior to returning to Israel.

Ramon, a son of Holocaust survivors, was particularly proud of his Jewish heritage and the resilience of his people to grow stronger through adversity. In a column he wrote for Air Force Journal, the official, Hebrew-language monthly magazine of the Israel Air Force, Ramon said he had arranged with NASA to eat only kosher food aboard his 16-day Shuttle mission. Moreover, Ramon said he would take with him into space a small Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust, along with a charcoal drawing of Earth by a small boy who perished at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp in Poland.

"What kind of cruel irony is that? When a Torah scroll saved from the Nazis gets burned up with our handsome, heroic Ilan," cried Tami Levy, a clerk at a post office in Herzliya, Israel. Trying to adhere to business through the use of fatalistic humor, Levy wiped away a tear and noted, "It's almost as if someone out there wants to punish us. If a tragedy had to happen, why didn't it occur during the launch? Why wait until the families are all gathered for a celebration? And why, oh why, did a big part of the craft have to land in a place called Palestine?"

Ramon earned his pilot's wings in 1974 and was among the first to establish fly Israel's U.S.-made F-16s. He was the youngest member of the combat fighter team dispatched in January 1981 to attack the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq. Ramon also served in a command role during Israel's 1982 Lebanon war. For the past ten years, Ramon held a variety of command, staff and research and development positions, including a stint as director of operational requirements. Ramon accumulated over 3,000 flight hours on A-4, Mirage III-C and F-4 aircraft, and an additional 1000 hours on the F-16.