TPS: Fighter Who Raised the Ink Flag in Eilat in 1949 Dead at 95
Palmach veteran Elishuv, who famously raised the improvised "Ink Flag" at Eilat's capture in 1949, has died at age 95.
Jerusalem, 18 September, 2026 (TPS-IL) — A veteran of Palmach (Hebrew acronym for Strike Companies), Elishuv participated in the capture of Eilat, then known as Umm Rashrash, during Operation Uvda (Fact) in March 1949.
When the soldiers arrived without a national flag, they improvised one by drawing the Israeli flag on a white sheet with ink. The photograph of the flag being raised became one of the iconic images of Israel’s War of Independence.
Born in Petah Tikva, Elishuv joined the Palmach as a teenager and fought in battles around Jerusalem and the Negev. He later served in Israel’s major wars, including the Sinai Campaign, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, and the First Lebanon War.
He was buried in Petah Tikva, where he lived most of his life.