Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

David Rubinger, Who Took Iconic Western Wall Photo, Dies At 92

David Rubinger, the Israeli photographer who snapped the iconic photograph of soldiers at the Western Wall in 1967, died on Thursday at the age of 92.

The photograph has come to symbolize both the military and spiritual significance of Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six Day War against Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

But Rubinger apparently didn’t like the photo, possibly the most famous in Israeli history.

“Photographically speaking, this isn’t a good photo,” he said, according to Haaretz.

Rubinger was born in Austria and immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1939. He took over 500,000 photos during his career as a photojournalist.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin eulogized Rubinger, whom he knew personally.

“There are those who write the pages of history, and there are those who illustrate them through their camera’s lens,” Rivlin said of Rubinger. “His work will always be felt as it is seen in the eyes of the paratroopers as they looked upon the Western Wall, and in the expressions on the faces of the leaders of Israel, which he captured during the highest of highs and lowest of lows.

Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected]

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.