​The writing on the poster begins in large, bold text in the upper part and gets smaller in the lower part. The caption begins with a direct command – “Do not forget the City of David!” and then quotes the head of the Herut party and future prime minister of Israel, Menachem Begin: “The walls of the Old City are not the border of Jerusalem!” The poster contains a picture of the Western Wall which, due to its location in the Old City, was off limits to the Jewish population in the years following the War of Independence until the end of the Six-Day War.

This poster was published in 1948 at the end of the War of Independence by the Betar movement and protests the division of Jerusalem: East Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, while West Jerusalem was under Israeli control. At the time of the poster’s creation, it was not known when Jews would be able to visit the Old City again.

Would You Like to Know More?

Betar - Betar was a revisionist Zionist youth movement founded by Ze’ev Jabotinsky. Betar was traditionally linked with the original Herut party and the Etzel (Irgun) underground paramilitary organisation during the time of the British Mandate. Menachem Begin, who is quoted in the poster, led the Betar movement in Poland prior to World War II and, upon his immigration, led the movement in Israel.