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The Three Soldiers (Zion, Yitzak, & Haim)

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Military Personnel

The Resume

    Israeli Defense Force (IDF) paratroopers
    Zion Karasanti, Yitzhak Yifat and Haim Oshri
    Served in the Six-Day War (Jun. 5 - 10, 1967)
    Fought in the historic Battle of Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem
    Photographed by David Rubinger standing near the Western Wall, following their entrance to Jerusalem at the end of the Six Day War (Jun. 1967)
    Photo was snapped twenty minutes after the capture of the Western Wall
    Photo has since been hailed as a symbol for the reunification of Israel

Why they might be annoying:

    Their image has been appropriated for pro-Zionist causes.
    Yitzak was experiencing the 'effects of local anesthesia' when he stormed the Holy City (he had had a toothache the week before).
    David Rubinger has maintained to this day that the photo he took of them - aesthetically - 'wasn't all that good.'
    Rubinger, in fact, much preferred an image he had taken of rabbi Shlomo Goren being hoisted onto the shoulders of IDF fighters after reciting from the Torah (his wife disagreed).
    Evidently the Israeli government agreed with his wife, because when the Army took possession of his collection, the 'Three Soldiers' image attained national treasure status almost overnight.
    That Yitzak's helmet is removed in the image is often mistaken as a sign of reverence before the Wall, although more likely it was done out of physical exhaustion (he came from a secular, non-religious background).
    The image was widely pirated from the negatives Rubinger had turned over to the Israeli government (which made them even more popular, to his chagrin).
    There were claims that the downward angle from which the photo was taken was due to Rubinger lying on the ground in fear (more likely he just wanted to capture the best angle possible).
    Google searches for 'The Three Soldiers,' as they are commonly known, tend to yield content related to the 'Three Soldiers' Vietnam memorial in Washington, D.C.

Why they might not be annoying:

    Their image regularly turns up in school textbooks and Israeli history books.
    Haim Oshri was a Yemeni immigrant who came to Israel when he was five.
    Their names are now etched in stone at the site of the photo's being taken.
    Yossi Klein Halevi called their photo 'the most beloved Jewish photographic image of our time.'
    Yitzak's best friend was shot in the back by a Jordanian during the Battle of Ammunition Hill (he was barely able to save his friend's life).
    Zion was the first to make it through to the wall and was handed a postcard by a random woman near the Western Wall and was told to write his family (he thought he had dreamed the moment until he met the woman again years later).
    All three have remained quite humble in the following decades; melding into society without issue as private citizens (Zion as a choreographer/director, Yitzak as a gynecologist/obstetrician, etc.)
    Israeli Supreme Court Justice Misha'el Kheshin asserted, in 2001, that the 'Three Soldiers' image 'has become the property of the entire [Israeli] nation.'
    They joined several IDF members in erecting a joint monument to the fallen Jordanians who fought in the Six Day War.
    Yoram Kaniuk wrote: '...[the] photograph connects the old and the new, hope with stones that have been bled...This is the story of the war, what it did and will still do, where it came from and where it will still go.'
    They carry the same significance for Israelis that the six Iwo Jima flag Marines do for Americans.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 21 Votes: 47.62% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
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    In 2016, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying