The Jewish Virtual Library is a good resource for historical information. This page describes the liberation of the Temple Mount and Western Wall in June, 1967. It contains an audio link to a live broadcast from an Israel Radio correspondent on the scene.
It also contains a transcript, in English, of some of the content of the Hebrew broadcast. In particular, there is this:
Command on the army wireless: Search the area, destroy all pockets of resistance and make sure to enter every single house, especially the holy places.
I was quite surprised to read this. “Enter every single house, especially the holy places”?
But when I listened to the actual broadcast, it was entirely different. Here is my literal translation of the same passage:
Comb the area, discover the source of the firing. Protect every building, in every way. Do not touch anything, especially in the holy places.
The fact is that — already at this point — Israeli authorities understood (maybe too well) the sensitivity of the Temple Mount.
In my opinion, the mistranslation gives entirely the wrong impression, one of a brutal IDF. The JVL is generally a pro-Israel site, so it’s hard to understand how this error occurred — and why it hasn’t been corrected, after they have been informed of it.
Here’s a link to the JVL contact page. If you understand Hebrew, listen to the broadcast — and tell JVL to fix the transcript and thank JVL for fixing the transcript!
Update [16 Sept 1544 PDT]: It’s fixed. We appreciate JVL’s concern for accuracy.
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