The Six-Day War and the Liberation of Jerusalem

For nineteen years no Jewish soldier had stood at the Western Wall. In the spring of 5727 Nasser expelled the UN force from Sinai, closed the Straits of Tiran again and massed seven divisions on the border; Syria and Jordan joined him. In Israel mass graves were dug in the parks. Those three weeks of dread are still called ha-hamtana, 'the waiting'.

On 5 June, 26 Iyar, the Israeli air force destroyed almost the entire Egyptian air force on the ground within three hours. Then came Sinai, the Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria. Jordan was asked through the UN to stay out of the war; it entered—and thereby opened the road to the Old City.

On 28 Iyar the paratroopers of the 55th Brigade under Motta Gur came through the Lions' Gate. Over the radio came the words 'Har HaBayit beyadeinu'—'The Temple Mount is in our hands.' The chief military rabbi Shlomo Goren came to the Western Wall with a shofar and a Torah scroll, sounded it and recited the memorial prayer. Grown men, soldiers, stood weeping against the stones.

In six days the country tripled in size. Some 780 Israelis were killed. The 28th of Iyar became Yom Yerushalayim. The questions the victory raised—the Temple Mount, the settlements, the borders—are still open.