‘No place for unity’: IDF hero’s daughter demands Likud minister remove iconic Six-Day War photo

By World Israel News Staff

The daughter of a paratrooper depicted in an iconic photo of the liberation of the Western Wall in 1967 attacked an Israeli lawmaker for reposting the photo, claiming that she was offended by the use of the image by a member of the current government.

During the Six-Day War, soldier Yitzhak Yifat was photographed standing in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, widely considered the second-holiest site in Judaism after the Temple Mount, with fellow soldiers from the paratroopers unit.

On the Tisha B’Av holiday on Thursday, Energy Minister Israel Katz posted the well-known photograph on his Facebook page with a caption about the importance of Israeli unity.

But Yifat’s daughter, Mako journalist Reut Yifat Uziel, a leader in the anti-judicial reform protests, was furious that Katz used the image and objected to his call for Israelis to overcome sharpening social and political divisions.

“Minister Katz, take down this picture. You don’t represent me or my father,” Yifat Uziel replied to the post.

Speaking to Channel 12 News, Yifat Uziel said that she had become aware of Katz’s post after friends brought it to her attention.

“In the last few months, Bibi has hijacked our country and our home,” Yifat Uziel told Channel 12.

“As a mother of small children who cares about their fate and their future, I was obligated to respond to Minister of Israel Katz who this week voted for the dictator and against democracy.

“I had to tell him that if he wants to use and talk about the unity of the Land of Israel, there is unity only in democracy and when… the legal coup [judicial reform] will be shelved.

“There is no place for unity… when the ministers of the government decide and vote against the people who live in the country,” she added.

Despite Yifat Uziel’s comment, Katz refused to remove the post.

“I greatly respect the opinion of every citizen, but this picture is an ironclad testimony to our shared history,” he said in a statement.

“I represent a public whose voice will not be silenced, [and I’m also expressing] a message calling for unity.”