'The Temple Mount Is In Our Hands': The Words That Still Shake Israel 53 Years Later
JERUSALEM, Israel – Fifty-three years ago, Israeli soldiers captured the Old City of Jerusalem.
On June 7, 1967, the 55th Paratrooper Brigade of Commander Mordechai (Motta) Gur broke through Jordanian defenses. What happened next resonated throughout the world and electrified the Jewish people.
Commander Gur broke the radio silence and said, “the Temple Mount is in our hands.”
It marked the first time the Jewish people controlled Judaism’s holiest site in more than 2,000 years.
“Within six days, we returned to the biblical land of Israel, all the mountains of Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights. We returned to the Old City of Jerusalem.” Rabbi Yehudah Glick told CBN News.
“It was liberated and reunited and here we are 53 years later, a new government, Jerusalem is united. It’s fabulous, it’s the Word of God coming out of the book, materializing and becoming a reality in our time in front of our eyes.”
Israel’s victory in the Six-Day war stunned the world and became a turning point for Jewish immigration back to their land.
“Throughout the Old Testament God says that he is going to draw the Jewish people back to the land. But what is interesting is at that moment, when Mordechai Gur, the Israeli general said on the radio, ‘the Temple Mount is in our hands.’ When that was broadcast, not just through Israel but worldwide. It electrified Jewish communities all over the planet. The level of Aliyah, Jews leaving their exile countries and coming back to the land of their forefathers skyrocketed in the years ahead,” explained author New York Times best-selling author Joel Rosenberg.
WATCH 'We Are at the End of the Age of the Gentiles': Pat Robertson Explains End Times Jerusalem Prophecy
Yet more than 50 years since the battle for Jerusalem, Rosenberg says Israel and its capital remain on the front lines.
"Jerusalem is the epicenter,” he told CBN News. “You know for 4,000 years people have wanted this city and they have fought hard to get it. And so, the fact that Israel controls it today is biblical, it’s prophetic but it’s also complicated, and we need to be praying for the peace of Jerusalem and praying for Israel to be secure."
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About The Author
In a time where the world's attention is riveted on events in the Middle East, CBN viewers have come to appreciate Chris Mitchell's timely reports from this explosive region of the world. Chris brings a Biblical and prophetic perspective to these daily news events that shape our world.
He first began reporting on the Middle East in the mid-1990s. Chris repeatedly traveled there to report on the religious and political issues facing Israel and the surrounding Arab states. One of his more significant reports focused on the emigration of persecuted Christians from the Middle East.
In the past, Chris' reporting has been distinguished by award-winning coverage of revival movements and other spiritual issues. In addition to the Brownsville revival in Pensacola, Florida, he also covered an outbreak of revival in Missouri. His report on the "holy laughter" revivals in Toronto and London was named CBN's "Focus Story of the Year" in 1994.
That same year, Chris also earned a "Short Story of the Year" award for his examination of religious coverage in network news. He has reported on such movements as the Promise Keepers and the annual "Prayer and Fasting" campaign led by the late Campus Crusade founder, Dr. Bill Bright.
In addition to his reports for The 700 Club, Chris is a regular contributor to Christian World News, a weekly 30-minute newscast that airs nationally in multiple markets.
Before joining CBN News in 1992, Chris worked for three years as a researcher, producer, and reporter for the Features/Testimonies department of The 700 Club.
A native of the Boston area, Chris earned a B.A. in History at the University of New Hampshire in 1975. In 1987, he graduated with honors from Regent University, earning an M.A. in Communication. While a student at Regent (then CBN University), he anchored Newsight, a student-produced Christian news program.
After almost a decade with CBN News, Chris' goal is to provide in his stories the Biblical "understanding of the times" described in I Chronicles 12:32.
