On this day, the 28th of the Jewish month of Iyar, the Jewish people celebrate the unification of Jerusalem, which took place on June 7, 1967. Since 1998, this holiday — Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim) — has had the status of a national holiday, which the Knesset passed a law on March 23, 1998.
On May 14, 1948, the existence of the State of Israel was proclaimed. Jerusalem became its capital. However, during the first 19 years of Israel's independence, Jerusalem was divided and its eastern part, where the main Jewish shrine is located, was under Jordanian control. In the armistice agreement, Jordan agreed to allow Jews to visit its sector and pray at the West Wall of the Jerusalem Temple (the Western Wall). But this agreement was not respected. During these years, Jews did not have access to East Jerusalem, the Old City. Jewish residents of the Israeli part of Jerusalem were constantly in danger of shelling from the Arab side.
In 1967, tensions between Israel and its neighbors escalated into a 6-day war. The armed conflict began in Jerusalem when the Jordanian army opened fire along the entire border with Israel, which passed through the very center of the city. In two days of fierce fighting, the Israel Defense Forces captured all Jordanian positions in Jerusalem and its surrounding areas. One hundred and eighty-three soldiers died in the battle for Jerusalem, many were wounded. Millennia later, the reunited city once again became the indivisible capital of the Jewish state. As General Moshe Dayan stated on that day in 1967: «Jerusalem is united and will never be divided». For the first time in two thousand years, the holiest place of the Jews came under Jewish control.
Immediately after the capture of the eastern sector of Jerusalem, steps were taken to unite the two parts of the city. The military fortifications were dismantled. The ruins of houses that stood on no-man's land abandoned during the 1948 war were demolished. The walls and fences that separated the city were destroyed. Roads blocked and destroyed during the war were rebuilt. The city's borders were significantly expanded, which accelerated its development. Jerusalem has ceased to be a border city, life in it has become much safer.
Today Jerusalem is the modern, rapidly developing capital of Israel. The Knesset (parliament) carries out its work there; the official residence of the country's president, government ministries and the Chief Rabbinate are located here. There is an agreement between all Israeli political forces that neither the unity nor the sovereignty of Jerusalem can be negotiated.
Now not only Jews, but also Christian and Muslim minorities are provided with access to their own religious shrines. Therefore, Jerusalem Day for the Jewish world is a symbol of historical justice and a sign of the reality of peaceful dialogue with other peoples and faiths. On this day, festive prayers are said in synagogues, and a number of ceremonial events take place in the city itself.