"The Jordanians were everywhere": the driver who broke into the Old City recreates

When the Six Day War broke out, Yehuda Nissman hurried to the reserve.

He did not think that on the first day of the fighting he would play a historic role in breaking through the Jaffa Gate.

55 years later, Nissman recalled a conversation with the commander of the Armored Brigade in reserve about the moments when Jerusalem was liberated.

"Thanks to him, the city was brought together"

Yael Friedson

26/05/2022

Thursday, 26 May 2022, 04:27 Updated: Friday, 27 May 2022, 16:28

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When Yehuda Nissenman volunteered as a tractor driver during the Six Day War, he did not imagine that he would play a historic role in the breakthrough of the Old City of Jerusalem.

55 years later, he met in the Old City with the commander of the Harel Brigade, Col. Elad Tzuri, and told him how he broke through the Jaffa Gate under gunfire from Jordanian snipers.

Nissenman, now 80, was 25 when the war broke out. His company, and he was sent to assist in the fortifications near Kafr Qassem. On the first day of the war he was asked to go up and meet the brigade in Jerusalem, but was delayed in arriving because along the way he encountered inverted tanks stuck in the road and asked him to rescue them

. "Two tanks that the engines went to, suddenly a Major from the Engineering Corps came running to me and said, 'Listen, the paratroopers want to break into the Old City, their tank gets stuck at the Lions Gate, run to the Jaffa Gate and break it, you'll get saboteurs," he recalled.

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"Jerusalem - in my soul and in my blood."

Nissman and commander of the Harel Brigade (Photo: Reuven Castro)

The driver of the tank heard a call, drove alone and arrived near the Jaffa Gate, which the Jordanians blocked by a block wall.

"There was a mess here, very quickly the rumor spread in Jerusalem that the Old City was being liberated and a lot of religious people ran in the direction and climbed mines," Nissenman said.

When he arrived, Nissman was instructed to break through the wall.

"I love Jerusalem, it's in my mind and blood and the excitement was immense," he recalled.

"I was in a kind of ecstasy. In war time plays with human life. The faster you do something, the more you save human life. The paratroopers were still fighting Rockefeller and the tank was stuck in the lions' gate. The Jordanians were still in all sorts of high places and watching us. When I work with the tractor "I can't hear the bullets. I'm lucky they did not hit me."

"I'm lucky I was not harmed."

Nissenman at the Jaffa Gate break-in (Photo: Official website, from Yehuda Nissenman's album)

"Thanks to Yehuda, this is a city that has been joined together," smiles Col. Tzuri, commander of the Harel tank brigade.

" "I was happy to meet Yehuda and hear from him about the brigade's battle heritage," he concluded, "the sense of commitment and courage that guided Yehuda and his friends continues to guide us today and thanks to them we are ready for Command Day."

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