July 9

History events
1391 — (7nd of AV, 5151) A rabbi’s personal letter written in Saragossa, ….. on this date is one of the few firsthand accounts of the total chaos in Spain: «If I were to tell you here all the numerous sufferings we have endured you would be dumbfounded at the thought of them…On the day of the New Moon of the fateful month Tammuz in the year 5151, the Lord bent the bow of the enemies against the populous community of Seville where there were between 6,000-7,000 heads of families, and they destroyed the gates by fire and killed in that very place a great number of people; the majority, however, changed their faith
1884 — (16nd of Tammuz, 5644) Lord Rothschild takes his seat as first Jewish peer in the British House of Lords
1938 — (10nd of Tammuz, 5698) Two seventeen year old Jewish hikers were stabbed and seriously wounded this morning “while passing through an Arab village, a mile from Tel Aviv on the main Jaffa-Jerusalem road. They were stripped and left by the roadside until found by a passing motorist.” The attack marked the end of bloody week in which Arab attackers had killed 12 Jews and wounded another 24
1948 — (2nd of Tammuz, 5708) During the War of Independence, ….. Egyptian artillery opened fire on Kfar Darom. This was followed by an attack led by an armored column and infantry. When the Egyptians entered the settlement, they found that the Jews had already decamped. Goliath had beaten David, but it was a pyrrhic victory, since the defenders had upset the Egyptian timetable for taking Tel Aviv. This military action took place during what was supposed to be a four week cease fire between the Arabs and the Israelis; The four week cease fire between the Israelis and the invading Arab armies was set to end. The Arabs rejected attempts by Count Bernadotte, the U.N. envoy, to extend the cease fire for another ten days; Israeli forces launched Operation Danny, an offensive designed “to capture territory east of Tel Aviv” and then open the road to Jerusalem in a bid to break the Arab stranglehold on the city. The offensive was named after Danny Mass, the commander of “Convoy 35” and was under the command of Yigal Allon and Yitzhak Rabin. The undertrained and poorly armed Jewish forces were up against the Arab Legion, the elite British trained army of Jordan. The ultimate key to victory would in the need to capture the seemingly impregnable Arab position at Latrun. “Convoy 35” refers to an attempt made by a detachment of Haganah troopers to bring supplies to the Gush Etzion kibbutzim in January of 1948. Thirty-five died in the attempt and many of their bodies were mutilated beyond recognition; Israeli forces launched an all-night bombardment as part of an attempt to re-take the Old City
1951 — (5nd of Tammuz, 5711) The Jerusalem Post reported that Jerusalem was assured of a regular supply of ice for domestic purposes from outside of the city and that the government granted a subsidy, due to the cost of the transport of ice from the coast
1958 — (21nd of Tammuz, 5718) Shayetet 13 operatives infiltrated Beirut harbor in Operation Yovel. They were discovered, and a gunfight and chase ensued. The commandos were able to retreat without any casualties
1969 — (23nd of Tammuz, 5729) Egyptian commandos raid an Israeli tank depot, killing 8, wounding nine and taking one prisoner
1973 — (9nd of Tammuz, 5733) The Ninth Maccabiah games open in Tel Aviv
1976 — (11nd of Tammuz, 5736) In response to the demands of African governments, the UN Security Council is met today “to take up their charge that Israel’s recuse of hijacked hostages at Entebbe airport in Uganda was a case of ‘wanton aggression.’

People
1825 — (23nd of Tammuz, 5585) Julius Oppert, Orientalist, born
1948 — (2nd of Tammuz, 5708) Twenty-six year old Robert “Bob” Vickman a WW II veteran of the USAAF who was a member of 101 Squadron died today while fighting against aircraft from the REAF