{"id":24719,"date":"2025-05-27T21:30:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T18:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/?p=24719"},"modified":"2025-05-27T23:30:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T20:30:02","slug":"the-secret-unit-that-held-mount-scopus-and-opened-the-gate-to-jerusalem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/the-secret-unit-that-held-mount-scopus-and-opened-the-gate-to-jerusalem\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret Unit that Held Mount Scopus and Opened the Gate to Jerusalem"},"content":{"rendered":"

A month before the establishment of the State of Israel, a convoy of doctors and nurses set out from the heart of Jerusalem, heading to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus\u2014an isolated Israeli enclave surrounded by Jordanian-controlled territory. Their mission was to deliver medical supplies and replace the team stationed there.<\/p>\n

But as the convoy passed through the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, it came under heavy fire. British forces stood by for hours without intervening, while a frenzied mob ran wild. Seventy-eight people\u2014doctors, nurses, and drivers\u2014were savagely murdered. Some of the bodies were never recovered. The event went down in history as the Hadassah Convoy Massacre.<\/p>\n

Smuggling weapons in armored vehicles<\/strong>
\nTwo weeks after the declaration of independence, the Jewish Quarter fell. Synagogues were blown up, and the Jewish residents were expelled. Only one area remained under Israeli control\u2014Mount Scopus. But the armistice agreements barred Israel from placing military forces or weapons there.<\/p>\n

For 19 years, the mountain stood isolated, cut off from the rest of Jerusalem\u2014until the Six-Day War changed the course of history.<\/p>\n

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The road that\u00a0 leads today to Mount Scopus | Photo: Hadas Parush\/Flash90<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What remained unknown at the time was revealed only much later: a covert unit called \u201cMatzof 247<\/em>\u201d had been operating on Mount Scopus the entire time, disguised as police officers and administrative staff. They smuggled weapons hidden inside armored vehicles, concealed themselves behind double seats, called themselves \u201cThe King\u2019s Boys\u201d and their commander \u201cThe King of the Mountain,\u201d and managed to maintain observation posts and preserve an Israeli presence\u2014against all odds.<\/p>\n

An intelligence legend<\/strong>
\nThe unit, which became a legend in Israeli intelligence circles, was prepared for the day fighting would break out\u2014and when it did in 1967, they responded with precise, independent fire. Rare testimonies from veterans reveal the full story: from the death convoy to the symbolic lighting of a Hanukkah menorah on the roof of the Rosenblum Building, a small sign of hope in the heart of a long siege.<\/p>\n

In the end, when the paratroopers broke through to the Old City, it was the men of Matzof<\/em>\u2014the successors of the Hadassah convoy\u2014who kept the gate open. Nineteen years of waiting came to an end, and the mountain returned to the people of Israel.<\/p>\n

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