Renowned Israeli photographer David Rubinger dies aged 92
March 2, 2017
His picture of Israeli soldiers gazing at the Western Wall became one of the most iconic images of the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli photojournalist David Rubinger has died aged 92.
Photographer David Rubinger at a London exhibition in 2006Image: Getty Images/G. Cattermole
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The works of Israeli photographer David Rubinger
His picture of Israeli soldiers gazing at the Western Wall became one of the most iconic images of the 1967 Six-Day War. Veteran Israeli photojournalist David Rubinger has died aged 92. Here are some of his photos.
Image: Getty Images/Newsmakers/GPO/David Rubinger
Gaza Strip in 1967
Born in Vienna in 1924, David Rubinger escaped the Nazis by fleeing to Palestine. His mother died in the Holocaust. Rubinger developed his passion for photography during his own military service in World War II and later became a photojournalist. This shot shows Israeli soldiers guarding captured Egyptians troops and Palestinians during the Six-Day War.
Image: Getty Images/GPO/David Rubinger
Paratroopers at the Western Wall
This is David Rubinger's most famous work. It portrays Israeli soldiers at the Western Wall, shortly after it was recaptured by Israeli forces during the Six-Day War in 1967. The government distributed this picture to everyone at a very low price, making it very famous. Israeli author Yossi Klein Halevi called it "the most beloved Jewish photographic image of our time."
Image: Getty Images/Newsmakers/GPO/David Rubinger
Ariel Sharon ahead of the Six-Day War
This photo of former Israeli army general Ariel Sharon (center), accompanied by generals and aides, was taken in Israel's Negev Desert on June 1, 1967 - four days before the Six-Day War. Sharon was a decisive figure in the conflict. He later served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2001 to 2006, until he suffered a stroke that left him in a coma until his death in 2014.
Image: Getty Images/GPO/Newsmakers/David Rubinger
Documenting a history of conflicts
On this photo, Israeli troops were moving toward the northern frontier, while Syria was attacking the Golan Heights in October 1973. Rubinger covered 10 conflicts and was often in high-risk situations: "Frequently these days, when looking back over the years, I find myself asking how I could have been so lucky," he wrote in his 2007 book, "Israel Through My Lens: 60 Years as a Photojournalist."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/GPO/David Rubinger
Yom Kippur War in 1973
This picture shows Israeli tanks battling against the Syrian army on the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Rudinger's photos included strong images from Israel's battlegrounds, as well as of Israeli settlers celebrating the foundation of one of the first post-1967 war settlements in the occupied West Bank and defiant Palestinians during an uprising in the 1980s.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/GPO/David Rubinger
The photographer of a nation in the making
David Rubinger was a photojournalist for "Time-Life" for over 50 years. Beyond conflict photography, he was also the only photographer allowed in the cafeteria of the Knesset, allowing him a privileged access to Israeli leaders such as Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin. Israel's late president, Shimon Peres, called him "the photographer of
the nation in the making."
Image: Getty Images/G. Cattermole
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Veteran photographer David Rubinger, who documented key moments in Israel's history, has died in Jerusalem, his family said in a statement on Thursday.
Born on June 24, 1924 in Vienna, Rubinger fled the Nazis to British-ruled Palestine in 1939, at the age of 15. He did his military service with the British Army's Jewish Brigade during World War II. He developed a passion for photography, opened a photography studio in Jerusalem, and was taken on by "Time-Life" magazine as a photojournalist.
Rubinger was part of the "Time" team for five decades and kept working well into his 80s. Along the way he covered along Israel's wars and politics, while documenting the growing Jewish state's society and culture through photos of the different waves of Jewish immigrants from Europe, the Arab world, Russia, and Ethiopia.
Rubinger's signature photograph, Paratroopers at the Western WallImage: Getty Images/Newsmakers/GPO/David Rubinger
"Over his illustrious career, Rubinger took over a half a million pictures that tell the story of the state of Israel," the "Haaretz" daily wrote.
Rubinger became the first photographer to receive Israel's highest honor, the Israel Prize, in 1997.
Survived 10 wars unscathed
His best-known work is a photo of Israeli paratroopers in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem after Israel captured East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967. The site is holy for Jews, Christians and Muslims.
In his 2007 book, "Israel Through My Lens: Sixty Years as a Photojournalist," he wrote about how he "went through 10 wars unscathed and survived countless other high-risk situations" and defined his "secret of a fulfilled life."
"Try to live every day as if it is your last, but plan your future as though there were endless tomorrows."
