Shortly after the Six Day War, Col. Mordechai Gur, who commanded the paratroop brigade with liberated the Old City of Jerusalem was appointed military advisor of the Israeli delegation in the special session of the U.N. Assembly.
I met him not long after his arrival in New York. During a lengthy talk he described the storming of the Old City and the Battles which preceded it.
The outbreak of the third Israeli-Arab war found Gur and his paratroopers ready to be parachuted “somewhere”. However the Jordanian shelling of Jerusalem forced the general staff to change its plans. On Monday the first day of the war, at two o’clock in the afternoon, Gur was ordered to proceed with his troops to Jerusalem.
Twelve hours later, at two o’clock Tuesday morning, the brigade went into action, attacking Sheikh Jarrah and other Arab quarters in the North of Jerusalem It was a built-up and heavily fortified area and fighting was fierce. The paratroopers fought heroically and sustained sever losses. After seven hours of battle, the norther part of East Jerusalem was occupied.
The second phase of the battle for Jerusalem commenced at 8:30 Wednesday morning. The paratroopers renewed their offensive. The immediate objective was the capture of the heights in the eastern part of the city. With their occupation, the encirclement of the Old City was to be completed. Positions in the south had been taken earlier by a Jerusalem infantry brigade.
Mount of Olives
The August Victoria Heights were attacked from two sides. One battalion , supported by ten tanks advanced by way of Mount Scopus. Another battalion, supported by six tanks, ascended from the valley. The brigade’s third battalion was ordered to proceed in the meantime along the walls of the Old City.
By 9:30 the brigade had achieved its immediate objective. It had captured August Victoria, the Arab village of A-Tur, the Mount of Olives, and the Azariah junction, through which runs the Jerusalem-Jericho highway.
The forces reorganized for the descent and the final battle. Gur was with his troops at the Azariah junction, but he waited with issuing the battle order until he had reached the Mount of Olives from where one could view the whole of the Old City. It was a historic order. It ordered Jewish troops to liberate the City of David, to realize the dream and hope of generations.
The paratroopers were seized with enthusiasm. Jerusalem! Jerusalem! The assault began. Heavy fire was directed in the positions of the Arab Legion. All the battalions moved towards the Lion’s Gate. A burning bus in front of the entrance held up tanks. The paratroopers surged forward, crushed through the gate and poured into the city. The three battalions fanned out in different directions. In two places there was hand to hand fighting. Officers and men were wounded. By 12:30 a.m. the city had been cleared of snipers and pockets of resistance. All of Jerusalem was in Jewish hands. When Col. Gur described the fighting in Jerusalem, illustrating his works by drawing a diagram of the embattled area, he made no mention of the fact, fully reported in the Israeli press, that he and his driver were the first to storm into the Old City. Riding in a half track, he bypassed his soldiers, encouraging them with the cry: “Be ye proud paratroopers,” and drove through the gate.
When he reached the temple area, Arab notables surrendered the city to him.
Thanksgiving Service
Some of his troops preceded him to the Western Wall. Among the first to arrive there was Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the Chief Chaplain of the Israeli Defense Force. he carried with him a Shofar and a Sefer Torah. After the Shofar was sounded, a thanksgiving service was held. By the time Col. Gur arrived at the Wall, the prayer service had already begun.
Several weeks after my talk with Col. Gur, I interviewed Rabbi Shlomo Goren in his Tel Aviv home. He told my wife and me of his experiences during the Six Day War. He also related the incredible story of his conversations some years earlier with Col. Gur, in which the latter foretold that he would be in command of the troops who would liberate the Old City.
It happened in 1961. Rabbi Shlomo Goren visited an army base in the north of the country. During a conversation with Gur, who was the commander of the base, Rabbi Goren remarked: “I will be among the first soldiers to pray at the Western Wall.”
“If you want to be among the first at the Western Wall, you’d better be friends with me, for I will command the troops who will liberate the Old City,” Gur declared.
Several high officers were present at the conversation. At the time this exchange of words must have seemed to them a bit unrealistic.
In May 1967, when the threat of war In the Middle East loomed large, Rabbi Goren was on an official mission in Australia. He cut short his visit and hurried back to Israel.
One week before the outbreak of the war, he was back at his headquarters. The following Shabbat he was in an army camp in the Negev. Many of the soldiers were downhearted. They had been away from their loved ones for many days and did not know what he future held in store for them. The Arabs were closing ranks and their threats increased from day to day.
Rabbi Goren felt confident. He was sure that the Israeli army would vanquish the Egyptians. Moreover, Hussein’s attachment to Nasser opened up an opportunity for the liberation of the Old City.
Mountain of Sinai
In a speech to the soldiers he openly expressed his convictions: “This week we will finish them off. By next Shabbat we will be at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This coming Shavuot I will go up the Mountain of Sinai.”
Many wondered at such bold words. Others were angry about what they thought were irresponsible declarations.
Monday saw the beginning of hostilities. Rabbi Goren with with the forces, rising from one front to another.
On the first night of the war he arrived in Jerusalem. Fighting in and around the city was fired and he was filled with the hope that the City of David would soon be again in Jewish hands. “You men are making history! What is going on in Sinai is nothing compared to this,” he told General Uzzi Markiss, Commander of Israel’s Central Sector.
Tuesday morning, the second day of the war, Rabbi Goren accompanied the forces which attacked Gaza. He carried with him a Sefer Torah. The fighting was heavy. An Arab shell struck the rabbi’s vehicle. Goren jumped with the Sefer Torah from the car and took cover. His driver was hit and severely wounded.
Before daybreak he knocked at the door of his father-in-law, Rabbi David Cohen, the Nazir. He asked him for his Shofar. He had lost his own Shofar which he had sounded on Mount Sinai during the Sinai Campaign of 1956 the day before, during the attack on Gaza.
A few hours later, when the paratroopers stormed into the Old City, Rabbi Goren carrying a Sefer Torah, was with them. He was among the first to reach the Temple area and the Western Wall. He sounded the Shofar and read a proclamation which concluded with the blessing of Shehechyanu, “In the name of all Israel in our land in the the Diaspora, I pronounce with exalted joy: Bless be You, Oh L-rd Our G-d, King of the Universe, who has kept us alive and has preserved us and enabled us to reach this season. “This year in rebuilt Jerusalem.”
While snipers’ bullets were whistling through the Old City, Rabbi Goren held a prayer service at the Wall. He recited Hallel in thanksgiving and said Kaddish and chanted Yizkor for those who died in battle.
Holy Places
Rabbi Goren was also privileged that day to participate in the liberation of Beth Lehem and Hebron ands holy places.
On Shavuot he ascended, as he had predicted Mount Sinai. He showed my wife and me a proclamation he had read after the storming of the Old City. At the bottom of the proclamation, Col. Mordechai Gur, the commander of the paratroopers had added in his own hand.
“Six years ago I obligated myself to you that together we would enter Jerusalem.
“Today I have fulfilled my promises. Never was I more pleased and excited about the fulfillment of a promise. The Temple Mount has been liberated. You prayed at the Western Wall and I stood at your side. May we be privileged to watch over Jerusalem forever!”
Much water has flowed down the Jordan since the six glorious days of June 1967.
Col. Mordechai Gur, the commander of the paratroopers who stormed the Old City rose to become Commander in Chief of the Israeli Defense Force. After his retirement form the army, he entered politics, representing Labour in the Knesset and in the government.
Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the longtime Chief Chaplain of the Israel Defense Force was chosen Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv in 1971. From 1972 to 1983 he was Chief Rabbi of Israel.
City of David
Both men- Rabbi Goren and Mordechai Gur- have spoken on a number of occasions about their respective roles in the events of June 1967. Gur even wrote a book describing the capture of the Old City. However, both men never told of their dramatic confrontation during the night prior to the paratroopers’ attack on the City of David.
Last year on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the liberation of the Old City, Rabbi Goren broke his silence.
Early last summer, during his short visit to the U.S. Rabbi Goren described to me what transpired during the night from the sixth to the seventh of June 1967. After the Jordanians began shelling Jerusalem on the first day of the third Israeli-Arab War, the Israeli government discussed the advisability of conquering the Old City.
The government was hesitant to do so. There was the distinct possibility that during the fighting, damage might be caued to the Holy Places. This would no doubt generate an outcry throughout the world. The powers of the West and East, the Moslems and the Vatican would condemn the Israel “aggression.” Israel might even be forced to withdraw its troops. Under the circumstances the governemnt decided to seal off the Old City, but not to attack it.
During Monday’s and Tuesday’s fighting the Israel Defense Force had occupied large parts of East Jerusalem. Col. Gur’s paratroopers were to complete the encirclement of the Old City on Wednesday morning.
This was the situation Tuesday night when Rabbi Goren, coming from the Gaza front, arrived at the paratroopers’ headquarters in the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem.
Temple Mount
When Rabbi Goren’ learned of the government’s decision to not take the Old City, he was beside himself. Jewish forces are encamped before the walls of Jerusalem and are not permitted to enter the City of David? If not now. when? When again would there be an opportunity to liberate the Temple Mount and the Western Wall? Failure to act now would spell tragedy for generations!
Rabbi Goren discussed the situation with Col. Gur. In despair he told the commander of the paratroopers, point blank to disregard the governemnt decision. “Order your soldiers to attack the Old City.”
Gur replied that he could not do this.
“History will condemn us for having been faint hearted for having been afraid of the nations,” the rabbi argued.. You yourself will come to regret that you did not lead your troops into the City of David, that you didn’t earn the title? ‘Liberator of Jerusalem.’ Are you afraid of prison? I am not! The liberation of Jerusalem is worth going to jail for.”
Gur persisted in his refusal to disregard the decision of the government. “I cannot act without orders from my superiors,” he declared.
“I am your superior! My military rank is higher than yours,” Goren shot back. “I give you the order!”
They argued for hours. Goren pleaded and demanded. In the heat of the debate, Col. Gur retorted: “What do you want from me? Pressure the government!”
Rabbi Goren fell silent. Gur’s words made sense. Goren now thought of approaching people who could influence Prime Minister Eshkol to change his stand. There was Hayyim Moshe Shapira, leader of the National Religious Party and Minister of Interior. He was greatly esteemed by Eshkol.
Liberation
It was past midnight when Rabbi Goren arrived at Shapira’s residence. The Minister of the Interior explained to him the reasons for the government’s decision, but the rabbi would not hear of them. It was now or never! Jerusalem must be liberated! After a long talk, Shapira expressed his agreement with Goren and promised to act accordingly.
From Shapira, Goren sped to the home of Dr. Yaakov Herzog, director of the Prime Minister’s office. He succeeded in convincing him to urge the liberation of the Old City
Early in the morning, the government ordered the attack on the Old City. It had been stated that the government’s decision was spurred by a B.B.C. report of the United Nations call for a cease fire. The report which was heard by Menachem begin before dawn and transmitted by him to Eshkol and Moshe Dayan, the Minister of Defense made it clear to all that there was no time to lose, that it was indeed now or never! However there can be no doubt that Rabbi Goren’s talks during the night with two key figures contributed to the decision.
Jewish Tradition, August 1993