Lenny Ben-David Profile picture
Public affairs/strategic consultant in Israel. Former Israeli diplomat in DC. Author of "American Interests in the Holy Land in Photos." RT ≠ endorsement

May 19, 2020, 5 tweets

Thursday night #Israel commemorates the anniversary of the Liberation of #Jerusalem in the 1967 War. The city was united after 19 years, and ALL religious sites were open to people of all faiths.
Traditional parades & celebrations will not take place due to Corona.
Iconic pics.

2/ Two more iconic pics of the liberation of #Jerusalem in 1967.
Rabbi Shlomo Goren, chief rabbi of the IDF, blew shofar at the Kotel and on the Temple Mount.
He was angry when DefMin Moshe Dayan gave the keys to the Mount to the Arab Waqf.

But Rabbi Goren was not finished!

3/ Goren continued south to Rachel's Tomb, & then raced down to Hebron. His jeep got there before IDF tanks & infantry. He saw white flags everywhere & took the surrender from the mayor.

Every Israeli knows what the "Degel D'yo" was: the hand-painted flag raised in Eilat in 48.

4/ A 2nd Degel D'Yo hand-painted flag in Israeli history. The flag Rabbi Goren raised over the Cave of the Patriarchs/Matriarchs in Hebron the next day. He pried open gates & was 1st Jew to pray in the tombs in 100s of yrs.
Goren refused Dayan's order to remove Torah he brought.

5/end. #JerusalemDay.
The ultra-Orthodox don't celebrate the day the way Religious Zionists do with Hallel (Psalms) prayers, singing & dancing (pre-Corona).
But once they did - 1918, the anniv of "Liberation Day" of Jerusalem. Flyer calling for prayers & even prayer for Eng King.

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