Another Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem,
And this time , Jerusalem Liberation Day.
In the photo: the paratroopers singing Hatikvah at the Western Wall, just hours after the capture of the Old City.
Today it’s hard to imagine, but from the War of Independence until the Six-Day War and the liberation of the city, Jerusalem was divided along the Old City, Sheikh Jarrah, Givat HaMivtar, and French Hill in the north – along today’s Derech Beit Lechem, at the border of Baka and the German Colony in the south.
On both sides of the border, Jordanian and Israeli forces had deployed barriers and fortifications.
The Six-Day War began with a surprise attack on Egyptian airfields, while at the same time a clear message was delivered to the Jordanians not to intervene in the war – and that if they did, Israel would respond with force.
The Jordanians attacked.
At the time, Israel was governed by a National Unity government. During a special meeting held in the basement of the old Knesset building on King George Street, due to the shelling of the city, a decision was made to capture the Old City and the surrounding areas.
The battle for Jerusalem lasted about three days and was one of the central battles of the Six-Day War.
It was a bloody battle fought across several fronts, during which 182 soldiers were killed, nearly a quarter of all Israeli casualties in the entire war.
On the morning of Wednesday, June 7th, Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin ordered forces to enter the Old City.
At 10:00 AM, Motta Gur announced over the radio:
“The Temple Mount is in our hands.”
At 11:00 AM, the Governor of Jerusalem on behalf of the Jordanian government arrived at the Temple Mount and signed a surrender document.
After 2,000 years of exile, Jerusalem, the beating heart of the Jewish people, was reunited.
At the end of the war, approximately 200,000 residents lived in Jerusalem.
Today, the city is vibrant and experiencing unprecedented growth and construction, attracting Jews from around the world alongside Israelis drawn to the city’s unique charm.
This is Jerusalem – a city with a long history written in blood: two Temples, exile, sieges, and riots alongside renewal and flourishing rebirth.
“The Temple Mount is in our hands,” while the Arab world cries out, “Al-Aqsa Mosque is in danger” – the same Al-Aqsa said to be “in danger” since the riots of 1929.
Jerusalem is the foundation stone and the heart of the world, an antenna tuned to an inner Jewish frequency from all four corners of the land, three times a day, moving in sync with the operating system of the universe.
May we be worthy of protecting this trust, paid for with the blood of many good people throughout generations, and may we be good to one another, so we may merit and protect the Third Temple with all our strength.
59 years after the reunification of the city,
Once again, it depends only on us.
Shabbat Shalom to those near and far from Jerusalem,
And Happy Jerusalem Day.
Photo: IDF Archives
