Famous paratrooper of the Six-Day War of the Israeli Defense Forces dies at the age of 81

Dr. Yitzhak Yifat, one of three Israeli paratroopers pictured in a photograph taken during the historic liberation of the Old City of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. deceased on Saturday at the age of 81.

The victory of the State of Israel against the forces of Egypt, Jordan and Syria is one of the most important events in modern Jewish history.

Yifat and his comrades in the IDF paratroopers – Chaim Oshri and Tzion Karasenti – became popular faces of the Victory in the Six-Day War in a photo by David Rubinger. The now famous picture was taken next to the old Jewish Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

The iconic moment captured in Rubinger’s photo shows the holy site coming under Israeli rule for the first time in 2,000 years. During Jordanian control of Jerusalem’s Old City from 1948 to 1967, Jews were banned from visiting the holiest sites in Jewish history.

In 2019, Yifat placed the emotional moment of the liberation of the Western Wall in its historical context.

“When we broke through the Western Wall, it was emotional in a way that is hard to describe. I thought of my grandfather, may he rest in peace, of his story, how he always talked about the wall. He was not a fighter and never saw the wall in our hands, so I felt it was for him,” Yifat recalled.

“I am not a person who prays, but all the religious soldiers started praying. I touched the wall, put my hand on the stones. That is a moment I will never forget. Then we cut up some pieces of paper, everyone wrote their deepest wish on them and we put the pieces of paper in the cracks,” he added.

The iconic photo from the Six-Day War became famous far beyond Israel and the Jewish world. Yifat recalled that his Polish-born neighbor showed him it when it was published in a Polish newspaper.

“After the war, my neighbor, a newly immigrated Pole, came running and showed me that my photo was in the Polish newspapers. I was shocked,” he said.

“We have become a symbol of our strength,” Yifat said.

Three years earlier, in 2016, Yifat reenacted the iconic victory photo of the Six-Day War with his grandchildren standing next to him at the Western Wall, almost 50 years after it was liberated by Israeli forces.

Yifat, who was on the political left, was reportedly unhappy that the war led to Israel’s long-term control over the large Arab population in Judea and Samaria.

“I don’t think we should rule over another nation,” Yifat is said to have said.

His political view was challenged by fellow paratrooper Karasenti, who replied: “How can you say that as an Israeli who fought for something after 2,000 years of longing? We brought the heart of the Jewish people back to this land.”

Yifat leaves behind three daughters and ten grandchildren. His funeral is scheduled to take place on Sunday in his hometown of Ge’a, near the southern coastal city of Ashkelon.