Mordechai "Motta" Gur (; May 6, 1930 – July 16, 1995) was an Israeli politician and the 10th

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. During the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

(1967), he commanded the brigade that penetrated the Old City of Jerusalem and broadcast the famous words, "The Temple Mount is in our hands!" (, ''Har HaBayit B'Yadeinu''). As Chief of Staff, he had responsibility for planning and executing Operation Entebbe (1976) to free Jewish hostages in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. He later entered the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

and held various ministerial portfolios. Gur wrote three popular children's books and three books about military history.

Military career

Gur was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and later joined the Palmach Haganah (the underground armed group of the Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine). He continued serving in a military capacity with the founding of the

(IDF) during the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

. In the IDF, Gur served in the Paratroopers Brigade most of his career and became one of the symbols of the "red beret" brigade. During the 1950s he was a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

commander under the command of

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...

. He was wounded during a counter-terror raid in

Khan Yunis Khan Yunis (), also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus, is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and serves as the capital of the Khan Yunis Governorate. It has been largely destroyed during the Gaza war. Before the 14th century, Khan Y ...

in 1955 ( Operation Elkayam) and received a recommendation of honor from Chief of Staff

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan (; May 20, 1915 – October 16, 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of General Staff (Israel), Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defe ...

. In 1957 he was appointed as

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

to the brigade commander. After serving in this position Gur went to study at the

École Supérieure de Guerre École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

in Paris. After two years in France, he returned and was appointed as the commander of the Golani Brigade (1961–1963) and commanded the counter-terror raid in Nukiev. He brought over the traditions and attitude of the Paratroopers, raised morale, and helped instill an espirit de corps in Golani for which the brigade is still famous. In 1965 he was appointed as the head of the operations branch in the general staff of the IDF. During 1965-1967 served as a commander of the IDF Command and Staff College. IDF Paratroopers UNIT

In 1966 Gur was appointed as the commander of the 55th Paratroopers Brigade (Reserve), which he led during the Six-Day War. Gur and his troops were part of the assault force which wrested

from the

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ians, and which were the first to visit the Western Wall and the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount (), also known as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a ...

. The pictures of paratroopers crying at the Wall and Gur's audio recording in the communication networks, "The Temple Mount is in our hands!" (, ''Har HaBayit BeYadeinu!''), became one of the most touching symbols of the war both to the

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i public and those abroad. After the war he was promoted to brigadier general's rank and was appointed as the IDF commander in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

and northern

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), 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 a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

. In 1969 he was promoted to major general and was appointed as the commander of the northern front, where Palestinian militants from the PLO, backed by

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, attacked Israel's northern settlements. Gur led several counter-attacks to reign in the terror attacks, conquering the

Shebaa farms The Shebaa Farms, also spelled Sheba'a Farms (, '; ''Havot Sheba‘a),'' also known as Mount Dov (), is a strip of land on the Lebanese–Syrian border that is currently occupied by Israel. Lebanon claims the Shebaa Farms as its own territory ...

from Syria in order to establish a defensive position to prevent border attacks. From August 1972 to December 1973 he served as the IDF military attache at Israel's Washington D.C., embassy. In January 1974 he was reappointed as the commander of the northern front. Following the retirement of General David Elazar due to the criticism of the Agranat Commission he was appointed in April 1974 as the 10th IDF Chief of Staff. In 1976, he was responsible for planning and carrying out Israel's rescue of 102 hostages from Entebbe Airport in Uganda. In 1977, Gur warned shortly before Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat's visit to Jerusalem that the trip might be a ruse to hide Egyptian plans for a war. He put the army on alert and was nearly fired for his lapse in judgment. In 1978, Gur guided a campaign in Lebanon to drive out Palestinian guerrillas. He served as chief of staff until 1978.

Civilian and political career

Following his retirement from the IDF, Gur was appointed as the general manager of Kur Mechanica company. In 1981 he was elected to the Knesset as a member of the

Israeli Labor Party The Israeli Labor Party (), commonly known in Israel as HaAvoda (), was a Social democracy, social democratic political party in Israel. The party was established in 1968 by a merger of Mapai, Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi (political party), Rafi. Unt ...

within the Alignment. Re-elected in 1984, he served as Minister of Health and was also a member of the Knesset's Security and Foreign Affairs Committee. Between 1986 and 1988 he served on the board of Solel Boneh, a construction company. In April 1988 he was appointed

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

, a position he retained following the 1988 elections until March 1990, when Labor pulled out of the coalition. After the Labor Party won the 1992 elections, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin appointed Gur to be Deputy Minister of Defense. In that role, Gur was responsible for preparing the Israeli economy for times of war and crisis and interacting with the Jewish settlers in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and in the

. Gur hoped to one day be prime minister, but cancer halted his political aspirations.

Death

In 1995, Gur became seriously ill with terminal cancer. He died by suicide with a

handgun A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...

on July 16, 1995 at the age of 65. Gur left a note saying he did not want to be a burden to his family. Israeli Prime Minister

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...

mourned him as "a special person, sensitive and strong, a soldier and a civilian, a lover of books and of writing, and above all, a friend." Gur was buried with full military honors in Tel Aviv.

Legacy

Area 21, a military base in the Sharon plain, was renamed in his honour (Camp Motta Gur). A

Metronit The Metronit (, ), also spelled Matronit, is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Haifa, Israel. Two Metronit lines, line 1 and 5א, operate during the weekend, or Sabbath, i.e. on Friday and Saturday, which is almost unique in Israel – as of 2 ...

station in Kiryat Ata is named after Gur. In Modiin a street and a school was named after Gur. Gur helped create the "Follow me" slogan of commanders in the Israel Defense Forces. Gur was played by Jack Warden in the film '' Raid on Entebbe'' (1977).

Bibliography

*''Har HaBayit BeYadeinu'' (''literally "The

is in our hands"'') (''The Battle for Jerusalem''), 1974.

References

External links

*
Jewish Virtual Library Timeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gur, Mordechai 1930 births 1995 suicides Military personnel from Jerusalem Jews from Mandatory Palestine 20th-century Israeli Jews Israeli politicians who died by suicide Israeli military personnel who died by suicide Recipients of the Medal of Courage Suicides by firearm in Israel Alignment (Israel) politicians Israeli Labor Party politicians Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Israeli generals Ministers of health of Israel Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996) Deputy ministers of Israel Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery 1995 deaths People of the Lebanese Civil War Ministers without Portfolio of Israel