''Paratroopers at the Western Wall'' is an iconic photograph taken on 7 June 1967, by David Rubinger. Shot from a low angle, the photograph depicts three Israeli

paratroopers A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

framed against the

Western Wall The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط � ...

in the Old City of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, shortly after its capture by Israeli forces in the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

. From left to right, the Israeli soldiers photographed are Zion Karasenti, Yitzhak Yifat, and Haim Oshri. The soldiers were reservists of the 66th Battalion,

55th Paratroopers Brigade 55th Paratroopers Brigade, also known as "''Tip of The Spear Brigade''" ( he, עֻצְבַּת חוד החנית, ''Utzbat Hod Ha-Hanit''), is a reserve-service infantry Brigade in the Israeli Defense Forces. History The 55th Paratrooopers Brigad ...

. Prior to taking the photograph, Israeli photographer and photojournalist Rubinger had been at

el-Arish ʻArish or el-ʻArīsh ( ar, العريش ' , ''Hrinokorura'') is the capital and largest city (with 164,830 inhabitants ) of the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt, as well as the largest city on the entire Sinai Peninsula, lying on the Medite ...

on the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...

when he heard a rumor that something big was going to happen in

. He hopped aboard a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

ferrying wounded soldiers to

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

, although he did not know its destination at the time. His car happened to be there, and he drove the rest of the way, at one point asking a hitchhiking soldier he had picked up to drive because he was too sleepy. He arrived in the Old City and after visiting quickly with his family, made his way to the Wall. The space between the Wall and the buildings in front of it was very narrow, so he lay down to get a shot of the Wall itself, when the paratroopers walked by and he took several shots of them. Twenty minutes later, IDF Chief Rabbi

Shlomo Goren Shlomo Goren ( he, שלמה גורן; February 3, 1917 – October 29, 1994), was a Polish-born Israeli Orthodox Religious Zionist rabbi and Talmudic scholar who was considered a foremost authority on Jewish law (Halakha). Goren founded and ser ...

arrived on scene with a

shofar A shofar ( ; from he, שׁוֹפָר, ) is an ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying ...

and a

Torah scroll A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tor ...

, whereupon Goren was hoisted upon the shoulders of the soldiers. It was an emotional scene and Rubinger by far preferred that one, though his wife Anni told him "the one of the three soldiers" was better. As part of his agreement with the Israeli Army allowing him front-line access, he turned the negatives over to the government, who distributed it to everyone for a mere IL2 each. It was then widely

pirated Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

as well. Although Rubinger was upset about his work being stolen, the widespread distribution made it famous. The image engenders such a strong emotional component that it has become an icon of Israel.

Israeli Supreme Court ar, المحكمة العليا , image = Emblem of Israel dark blue full.svg , imagesize = 100px , caption = Emblem of Israel , motto = , established = , location = Givat Ram, Jerusalem , coordina ...

Justice Misha'el Kheshin declared in 2001 that the photo had "become the property of the entire nation".

References

{{Photo-stub 1967 in art Six-Day War Black-and-white photographs Western Wall Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict 1967 photographs 1960s in Jerusalem People notable for being the subject of a specific photograph Paratroopers