Jerusalem Day

Today marks "Jerusalem Day."  It commemorates the battle 42 years ago, during the Six Day War, when for the first time in 2,000 years, Jews controlled the city. Not since Roman legions destroyed the city and plundered the Second Temple in 70 A.D. did Jews control their capital.
 
Last night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech marking that day.  (You can read the entire speech at www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechjeru210509.htm. 

The speech was timely.  Netanyahu just returned from a high pressure visit to Washington D.C. and a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama. 

Some reports suggest Obama wants Israel to divide the city and make one part of it the capital of a future Palestinian state and internationalize Jerusalem's Old City.

Despite the U.S. pressure and that of the international community, the prime minister vowed that Jerusalem would never be divided again:

"Last night I returned to Jerusalem, our capital, from a very important visit to Washington, capital of the United States.  It was very important for me to come back to participate in this ceremony and say the same things I said in the United States: United Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.  Jerusalem has always been – and always will be – ours.  It will never again be divided or cut in half.  Jerusalem will remain only under Israel's sovereignty.  In united Jerusalem, the freedom of worship and freedom of access for all three religions to the holy sites will be guaranteed, and it is the only way to guarantee that members of all faiths, minorities and denominations can continue living here safely."

Netanyahu also noted what happened to him and thousands of other Jerusalemites that day:
 
"Another remarkable thing happened: thousands, thousands of Israeli citizens, not only from Jerusalem, but from all over the country, rushed in masses into the Old City, passing through roads that were previously blocked, places we were never allowed to set foot in, through barbed wires, along the now shattered separation walls, climbing rocks and entering into back alleys – all of us heading toward the same place: the Western Wall. I remember that the square was narrow – in fact, there was no square at all – and the place was too narrow to contain the large masses, and each of us waited our turn to arrive at that ancient wall. I remember the beating of my heart and the exhilaration I felt when I first touched the stones of the Western Wall, thinking about King David, King Solomon, Israel's prophets and kings and the Maccabim. I thought about the people of Israel throughout the generations, as did the thousands of Israelis who arrived there.  The liberation of Jerusalem and the Western Wall marked for all of us the deep connection to the roots of Jewish history.  We felt that the dream of generations had finally come true."

Last night I met a friend who was one of those thousands of Jews who flocked to the Western Wall in 1967.  Even though she was visiting at the time, she vowed she would bring her children back to Jerusalem.  She kept that promise and now has seen her children live in the city she calls home. 

Netanyahu's own vow to never again allow Jerusalem to be divided will be tested by the world.  International pressure – led by the U.S. – appears to want to coerce Israel to cede control of their capital. 

Some would say the time is approaching when the words of the prophet Zechariah will one day come true:

"I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.  On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves."  (

Surely it's a time to follow the exhortation of another scripture: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, may those who love you be secure."  (