David Rubinger

David Rubinger (; 29 June 1924 – 2 March 2017) was an Israeli photographer and photojournalist. His famous photo of three Israeli paratroopers after the recapture of the Western Wall has become an iconic image of the Six-Day War. Shimon Peres called Rubinger "the photographer of the nation in the making".

Biography David Rubinger, an only child, was born in Vienna, Austria. When he was in high school, Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss and with the help of Youth Aliyah, he escaped to Mandatory Palestine via Italy and settled in a Jordan Valley kibbutz. His father had already fled to England, but his mother was murdered in the Holocaust. During World War II, he joined the British Army and served as a driver in a transport unit in North Africa, Malta, and Italy. After the Jewish Brigade was established he was transferred to it. He took part in Aliyah Bet operations after the German surrender.

While on leave in Paris, a French girlfriend gave him a camera as a gift, and he discovered he enjoyed photography. He took his first professional photo of Jewish youths climbing a British military vehicle to celebrate the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.

Rubinger died on 2 March 2017 at the age of 92.

Photography career After being discharged from the IDF, Rubinger opened a photography accessories and materials store in Jerusalem. He broke into photojournalism when Uri Avnery offered him a position at HaOlam HaZeh in 1951, where he worked for two years. He then joined the staff of Yedioth Ahronoth, followed by The Jerusalem Post. His break came in 1954 when he was asked to shoot a story for Time–Life. He ended up working for them for more than 50 years.

As Time–Life's primary photographer for the region, Rubinger covered all of Israel's wars and was given unprecedented access to governmental leaders: he was the only photographer allowed in the Knesset cafeteria. With the sort of access and exposure that allows the subjects to disregard the photographer's presence, Rubinger was able to take memorable photos of Golda Meir feeding her granddaughter or quiet moments between Yitzhak and Leah Rabin, for example. Israeli author Yossi Klein Halevi calls it "the most beloved Jewish photographic image of our time".

Awards and recognition David Rubinger was awarded the Israel Prize in communications for 1997, the first year it was awarded in that category. (His fellow laureate in communications was veteran television broadcaster Haim Yavin). He was the first photographer to receive the Israel Prize, as the category of Photography was not awarded until 2000.

On 5 March 2017, Israel's mass-circulation Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth, for whom Rubinger had worked in the past, published a 21-page special photographic supplement in colour of selected photographs spanning his career. Titled "The Man Who Was There," the cover caption read: "There's no Israeli leader he didn't document or historic event where he wasn't present. To a great extent, David Rubinger, who passed away last week, is the photographer of our life here in Israel."