Israeli reconnaissance forces from the Shaked unit in the Sinai region during the 1967 Six-Day War. Photo: Matanya via Wikimedia Commons.

The Christian Broadcasting Network has produced a movie that celebrates Israel’s victory in Jerusalem in 1967. The film, In Our Hands, includes commentary from Michael Oren, the former Israeli Ambassador to the United States and the author of Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East.

The movie also includes testimony from IDF soldiers who took part in the battles to capture the city. To flesh out the narrative, the film provides reenactments of the fighting, the hateful speeches from Arab leaders prior to the Six Day War, and the debates between Israeli politicians and soldiers as they struggled with the decisions they faced before, during and after the capture of Jerusalem.

For people who are unfamiliar with the history, In Our Hands does an outstanding job of highlighting the challenges faced by the Jewish state two decades after the Holocaust. The Israeli people and their leaders were faced with foes who had promised to destroy their country before it reached its 20th birthday. By dint of a pre-preemptive attack on Egyptian airfields, and profoundly courageous acts on the ground, sovereign and free Jews were able to secure their future and live to fight another day, as they have successfully done in the decades since.

One compelling reenactment included in the movie is Moshe Dayan instructing battlefield commanders to take the Israeli flag down from the Temple Mount — out of respect for Muslim sensibilities, and for fear of provoking a region-wide war in the Middle East.

The movie’s strength is not merely in providing a historical summary of the events that led to the liberation of Jerusalem, but in conveying the emotional impact that it had on Jews, both religious and secular. This was especially true of the soldiers who celebrated at the Western Wall after the Old City was secured.

The movie does not shy away from the horrors of the fighting, providing testimony from an IDF soldier who was almost left for dead and covered with a sheet after the battle for Ammunition Hill — but was saved when one of his comrades saw his hand moving. The movie also documents the Israeli decision to honor the Jordanian soldiers who died at Ammunition Hill with a sign recording their courage in battle. The Israelis’ goal was to defeat the Jordanians, not to dishonor or humiliate them. “We are not Sparta,” one of the interviewees declares. It’s a very compelling moment.

In Our Hands does more than celebrate the restoration of Jerusalem, but celebrates Israeli toughness in the face of danger and threatened destruction. The movie offers an implicit rebuke to films such as With God on Our Side and Little Town of Bethlehem, two anti-Israel movies produced in the last decade that tell viewers that peace between Israel and the Palestinians is achievable if only the Jews would come to their senses, and abandon their aggression.

Yet In Our Hands shows that there are some threats that won’t go away, and that some battles must be won if justice is to prevail and civilization is to be protected. It’s not a message that everyone wants to hear, but it’s one that can’t be ignored by the people who watch In Our Hands.

Watch the trailer for In Our Hands below: