Even today, 55 years later, the voice of Mota Gur announcing "The Temple Mount is in our hands" makes me shiver.
For many Israelis, the fulfillment of the dream of generations of returning to Jerusalem through the paratroopers 'feet from the Lions' Gate was one of the highlights of the Zionist enterprise in modern times.
But after two generations, what is left of the dream?
How did a national consensus, about which there was no debate two or three decades ago, become a political front used for a pointless internal clash?
Worse, how did it happen that there are those who allow themselves to be "speculated" in Jerusalem even in the context of a "security threat"?
A topical example from recent days tells the whole story: At the Merkaz Harav yeshiva, the flagship of religious Zionism (not the party), they decided not to invite "neither Prime Minister Bennett nor opposition leader Netanyahu to the festive event for Jerusalem Day - so as not to do politics."
Do you understand?
Here, this is how it goes under the radar for us.
We got used to the cynical use of Jerusalem Day.
It is time to say to politicians - left and right alike - in your own statements you are weakening the healthy attitude of the citizens of the country to their capital city.
And why, actually?
Can we not trust the security forces to do their job faithfully in approving the route and securing the flag parade?
Of course it is.
But there are those who seek to generate political capital from professional issues.
Thus, what is sometimes seen from the sidelines as "walking on eggs" by the political echelon, along with the way they resonate that behind every decision there is a "possibility of tension or security escalation", all these intensify the feelings of alienation and fear of growing sections of the Israeli public from Jerusalem.
The entry of Jerusalem into the political dilemma and the continued internal division caused almost irreversible damage.
I call on leaders to stop this conduct.
Your tired and confused messages are a real barrier and prevent the formation of the required, consensual civic consciousness in relation to Jerusalem.
In recent years, the flag parade has become the almost exclusive symbol of Jerusalem Day.
But does he represent the whole of Israeli society?
Has not become an asset of one or two sectors?
What is missing so that we can all feel the importance and partnership in the joy of Jerusalem Day again?
The answer: developing social resilience.
The State of Israel is a military, technological, and economic power.
But how did it happen that in parallel with the intensification and growth curve in so many parameters, there is a tremendous leap in the extremes of discourse, division and the increase of the various rifts?
After all, Jerusalem Day is just a microcosm of a more complex, larger and problematic picture.
How do you bridge this gap?
First, national leadership must be demanded that preserves the value of unity, mutual guarantee and respectful discourse.
Sounds obvious?
So why is it just the opposite?
How do you, the leaders, the public messengers, explain the inflammatory discourse and the shallow and blatant language that has become the bread of your law?
The answer to the previous section connects well with the responsibility placed on the media - and there is no doubt that it must recalculate a route.
Dear editors of editions, would you with the same enthusiasm convey words of taste that are said in a relaxed and dignified tone?
Why is every politician who tries to heat up the discourse around Jerusalem quoted non-stop and invited for honor to the studios?
Precisely in the age of social networks and the wild and uncontrollable incitement raging there, the institutionalized press must change phase and produce less "bad blood" proactively due to commercial considerations.
And finally, we - civil society.
What did we share?
Are we standing in front of our elected officials and setting a limit for them?
Make it clear to them that we have put an end to the incessant incitement?
Because the city that has been put together for it asks of us - connection and not separation.
Internal unity as a threshold condition for external, state unity.
It is time to put politics in its place, and to understand for what symbols we must join hands.
The author is the chairman of Gesher and a former IPS commissioner.
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