Dr. Yitzhak Yifat, known as the paratrooper in the center of David Rubinger's photo of three paratroopers after the liberation of the Western Wall following the Six Day War, passed away on Saturday aged 81.
Yifat later became a medical doctor and surgeon specializing in obstetrics and gynaecology.
In a post on X, Danny Ayalon, former MK and Israeli ambassador to the US, wrote, "In 1967, I was 11 years old. My school teacher was a man by the name of Yitzhak Yifat. One day, he didn't show up to class. He remained absent the day after & I didn't know what happened. The 6 Day War broke out & I finally found my teacher -- on the front page of the newspaper."
In 1967, I was 11 years old. My school teacher was a man by the name of Yitzhak Yifat. One day, he didn't show up to class. He remained absent the day after & I didn't know what happened. The 6 Day War broke out & I finally found my teacher -- on the front page of the newspaper: pic.twitter.com/IEEEKyn6KE
— Danny Ayalon (@DannyAyalon) June 2, 2019
The story behind the photo
On June 7th, 1967, at the end of the Six-Day War, paratroopers Zion Karasenti, Yitzhak Yifat (who was 24 at the time) and Haim Oshri from the 66th and 55th Battalions of the Paratroopers Brigade were photographed after liberating the Western Wall in Jerusalem, according to the IDF website.
The photograph later came to be known as ‘Paratroopers at the Western Wall’ or ‘The Crying Paratroopers’ in Hebrew, despite the fact that none of the photographed soldiers are crying. For decades preceding the liberation, Jews could not enter the Old City of Jerusalem, and this was the first time that Israelis reached the Western Wall.Yifat spoke about the photo a few years ago: "I hardly remember the moment Rubinger took a picture of us. I remember that during the photoshoot Rubinger dropped to the floor and clicked his camera. Rubinger was a good man, a lover of the Israeli people and Israel and an excellent professional photographer."
According to the IDF page, Rubinger was on holiday in Egypt when he heard of something happening in Jerusalem. He hitched a ride in an Israeli Air Force helicopter transporting wounded soldiers to Be'er Sheva, and then drove to Jerusalem.
The IDF wrote that Rubinger took many pictures in the following hours, including one of former IDF Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren raised up on the shoulders of soldiers, holding a shofar and a Torah scroll.
Photo controversy
There has been debate over whether the third paratrooper was Zion Karasenti or Avraham Borstein. Whilst originally believed to be Karasenti, the granddaughter of Avraham Borstein claimed in 2021 that the man was her deceased grandfather, according to Israel Democracy Insitutue (IDI)
The Burstein family was interviewed by Israeli media, following which the Kresenti filed a defamation lawsuit for a total of one million shekels and the Burstein family, in turn, filed a counterclaim, according to IDI.
According to IDI, Kresenti provided first-hand testimony from another soldier while the Borsteins brought hearsay testimony.
According to IDI, however, in March 2024, Tel Aviv District Judge Benny Sagi ruled that both men could claim to be the paratrooper in the image, in a so called "Solomonic ruling" after the famous king. Sagi said: "The two men will be able to claim that they are the left paratrooper, the authentic one, each without infringing on the other's right to do the same ... The parties agree to put the disputes behind them, and to send to the people of Israel a message of reunification and reconciliation, within which the court will not be required to decide on the question of those photographed." Walla contributed to this report.