Yohanan Elishuv, last surviving fighter who raised Eilat's Ink Flag in 1948, dies at 95

Yohanan Elishuv, the last surviving Palmach fighter who raised the Ink Flag at Umm Rashrash (modern-day Eilat) in 1949, died at 95 in his Petah Tikva apartment. A runner and driver in the War of Independence, he fought in battles for Jerusalem and the Negev, served in subsequent wars, and worked for Solel Boneh.

Yohanan Elishuv, the last surviving Palmach fighter who raised the Ink Flag at Umm Rashrash (modern-day Eilat) at the end of the War of Independence, died at age 95 in his Petah Tikva apartment, on the same plot of land where he was born. A runner and driver in the Palmach's Fourth Battalion, Elishuv fought in some of the fiercest battles along the road to Jerusalem, including Nabi Samuel and Katamon, and later in the Negev. During Operation Uvda on March 10, 1949, he was among the first fighters to reach the police station at Umm Rashrash, where the improvised Ink Flag was raised — an event that became a defining symbol of the young State of Israel. After the war, he served in the Artillery Corps reserves and participated in the 1956 Sinai Campaign, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, and the First Lebanon War. In civilian life, he worked for about 30 years as a heavy-vehicle driver for Solel Boneh, building roads to Eilat and developing southern Israel. He is set to be buried at Segula Cemetery in Petah Tikva on Monday.