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From: 	 heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Sent: 	 Wednesday, June 11, 1997 1:15 AM
To: 	 Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup
Subject: June 7, '67 narration of capture of Temp



From:          MDBartlett@aol.com
To:            heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject:       June 7, '67 narration of capture of Temple Mount from Shema
Yisrael tape


Dear Phyllis, Diane and James:

This is so cool; an article from the Jerusalem post about the reporter whose
voice we hear on Barry & Batya Segal's tape narrating the soldiers' entrance
into the Old City, etc. I thought you'd like to see this.
Shalom,
Michele

Live from the Western Wall
By YOSSI RONEN

Television producer Yossi Ronen recalls broadcasting the liberation of the
Temple Mount and Western Wall. The third of three eye witness accounts provided
to 'Bamahane - IDF Magazine' by men who took part in the key moments of
the Six Day War, which helped change the course of Jewish, Middle East and
world history. At the beginning of June 1967, as Israeli forces prepared to
confront the Egyptian army, most Army Radio reporters were situated in the
south of the country. Those in the regular army and in the reserves were with
their units in the field, and each day phoned in reports. I had started working
at Army Radio two months earlier.

As the newest rookie, I was assigned the "dirty work" of taking dictation
from these reporters. So when the Jordanians began shelling Jerusalem, there
was nobody available to report on what was happening in the capital. In spite of
my inexperience in the field, I asked to leave for Jerusalem. I envisioned a
city under siege, as it had been during the War of Independence, with nobody
there to report on what was happening. To my great disappointment, my request was
denied, due to a shortage of available vehicles and tape recorders. It was only 
toward evening that help arrived from an unexpected source. A 23-year-old from
Holon, by the name of Yossi Velni, presented himself to Dayan, and announced that
because he had not been drafted, he was requesting to volunteer for Army Radio. He
had a Grundig tape recorder and a powerful Triumph motorcycle, and so my problem
was solved.

On the morning of Tuesday, June 6, we raced over the empty roads leading to
Jerusalem. Around Ramle, we had to evade a military roadblock, which tried to
prevent us from continuing due to Jordanian shelling along the way. We
arrived in Jerusalem, and found that the streets were almost empty. In the
background, sounds of explosions could be heard. Most of the city's residents
were in bomb shelters. In order to be brought up to date, and then to join one
of the units fighting in the field, we headed to the Jerusalem regimental
headquarters. This was on a rooftop several stories high - the Histadrut
building on Straus Street. The sight which greeted us could have been taken
from a movie. Jerusalem was spread out below us, and beyond it Mount Scopus
and the Mount of Olives. Israeli Air Force planes dove relentlessly toward
Jordanian posts, and at concentrations of tanks in the area of what is now
Ma'aleh Adumim. A bit to our north, we could see the shelling around King
Hussein's unfinished palace, next to the police academy.  In the south we
could watch the battle of Armon Hanatziv.  Our tape recorder was running
nonstop. I described the planes' dives as though it were an Independence Day
parade. We located an unmanned switchboard a few floors below us, which we
used to pass on the recorded material to the studio in Jaffa. We spent the
night on the roof, from which a giant searchlight illuminated the combat area
across from us.

Throughout the morning of Wednesday, June 7, Velni and I were glued to
walkie-talkies from which emanated various battle commands. Suddenly we
recognized the familiar voice of the commander of the paratroops brigade,
Colonel Mordechai "Motta" Gur, giving orders to the battalion commanders to
occupy the Old City: "Attention, all battalion commanders! We are sitting on
the mountain range which looks down on the Old City, and are about to enter it.
The Old City of Jerusalem, which all generations have been dreaming about and
striving toward. We will be the first to enter it!" "Eitan's tanks are
progressing from the left and will enter the Lions Gate. Move! Move to the
gate! The final rendezvous will be on the open square above." It was clear
that Gur was referring to the open square of the Temple Mount. With us on the
roof was General Shlomo Goren, at that time the chief rabbi of the Israeli army.
He informed Gur over the walkie-talkie that he was on his way to meet him, so
as to be among the first to enter the Old City. Accompanied by his loyal assistant,
Rabbi Menahem Hacohen, Goren ran down the dozens of steps. Deciding in a split
second, I ran down after him, followed by Velni. It was only in the car that Goren
realized he was not alone.

During a fast drive in the direction of the Mandelbaum Gate, which had served
up until then as a crossing point between Jewish and Arab Jerusalem, I told
him that we were Army Radio staff members, and that it was our intention to join
up with Gur. Upon our entry into Jordanian territory, we were stopped by the
paratroopers, who were on their way toward the Old City. We were forbidden to
continue by car, since the entire area was under sniper and shell fire. So we
left the vehicle and continued quickly on foot. As far as I remember, we were
the only ones in the whole area running without helmets or weapons. Goren was
armed only with a shofar and a Bible, and we carried only a tape recorder and a
knapsack filled with batteries and rolls of recording tape.

We ran, while trying to stay as close as we could to the Old City wall to our
right, but exposed to the sniper fire coming from the Mount of Olives on our left.
Our mad rush was made even more difficult by the short cord, approximately two
meters long, connecting my microphone to the recorder carried by Velni. Not
knowing better, I continued to describe into the microphone what was happening
in an out-of-breath rush of broken sentences. Today I know that it was
precisely my lack of professional experience which contributed, more than
anything else, to the authentic documentation of the breakthrough into the Old
City.  As we ran, we passed two lines of paratroopers who were progressing
carefully toward the Lions Gate. Goren was determined to get to the head of
the line as quickly as possible.

At the top of the street leading to the Lions Gate, we passed a still-smoking
Jordanian bus. We stopped only at the gate itself, which was blocked by an
Israeli Sherman tank which had gotten stuck in the entrance. We climbed over
the tank and entered the Old City.

Now the excitement reached its peak. Goren did not stop blowing the shofar
and reciting prayers. His enthusiasm infected the soldiers, and from every
direction came cries of "Amen!" The paratroopers burst out in song, and I
forgot my role as "objective reporter" and joined them in singing "Jerusalem
of Gold."  We reached the Temple Mount. Deputy Chief of General Staff, General
Haim Bar-Lev and head of the Central Command, General Uzi Narkiss, were also
on hand. Dozens of soldiers flowed onto the square, and the senior commanders
gave short, emotional speeches.

Narkiss recalled the unsuccessful attempt he led during the War of
Independence to liberate the Old City. With great emotion, he finished with
the words: "Never has there been such a thing, for those standing here right
now. I am speechless. We all kneel before history."

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