The Iranians and Turks know what the meaning of today is.
On This Day — June 7, 1967
“The Temple Mount is in our hands!”
Those historic words, broadcast live from the Old City, still send chills down the spine 58 years later.
Despite Israel’s urgent pleas for Jordan to stay out of the war, Jordanian forces opened fire on Jerusalem. Israel held back at first. But when Jordan continued shelling and seized UN headquarters, the IDF had no choice.
On June 7, paratroopers under Lt. Gen. Mordechai “Motta” Gur stormed the Lion’s Gate. Gur’s voice, captured on tape, became legend:
“We’re sitting right now on the ridge and we’re seeing the Old City. Shortly we’re going to go into the Old City of Jerusalem, that all generations have dreamed about ... The Temple Mount is in our hands! I repeat, the Temple Mount is in our hands!”
Moments later, Chief IDF Chaplain Rabbi Shlomo Goren stood before the Western Wall and sounded the shofar. Battle-hardened soldiers wept as they recited the Shehecheyanu blessing.
Jerusalem was whole again.
Defense Minister Moshe Dayan declared at the Wall:
“To our Arab neighbors we extend the hand of peace ... We did not come to Jerusalem to conquer the Holy Places of others.”
Prime Minister Levi Eshkol met leaders of all faiths and pledged full religious freedom. Israel took the extraordinary step of leaving day-to-day administration of the Temple Mount with the Muslim Waqf while retaining overall security — a gesture of restraint unheard of after centuries of Jewish restriction.
Within days, the barbed wire, minefields, and sniper walls that had divided the city for 19 years came down. Jews, Muslims, and Christians could finally walk freely. Hundreds of thousands flocked to touch the stones their ancestors could only dream of.
Nineteen years after Jordan ethnically cleansed every Jew from the Old City, the Jewish people had returned.
From that day forward, Jerusalem was liberated and reunited.
The dream of every generation lives on in Jewish hands today.
May we guard it with the same courage, wisdom, and moral clarity that won it on that miraculous June day.