What do the Altalena and the Heritage Ministry have to do with the approaching elections? - opinion

The Altalena has resurfaced from the seabed, but its political legacy never disappeared. The wreck of the Irgun ship was reportedly found intact at a depth of 503 meters, 27 kilometers off Israel’s coast, and its discovery has now been drawn into the approaching election campaign.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliahu, both members of Otzma Yehudit, announced the discovery on the night between Sunday and Monday last week. The ship had brought weapons and immigrants from France to Israel before the IDF shelled it off Tel Aviv on June 22, 1948. In July 1949, the navy towed what remained of the damaged vessel 24 kilometers off the coast of Jaffa.

The Altalena began as a 4,500-ton American World War II tank landing craft. The Irgun converted it to carry about 930 immigrants, most of them Holocaust survivors, along with Irgun personnel and 4,500 tons of weapons. The arms were intended for Irgun fighters and, after Israel’s establishment, were supposed to be shared with the new IDF.

The ship left Marseille on June 11, just 10 days after Begin signed an agreement with David Ben-Gurion’s aide Yisrael Galili to disband the Irgun and integrate its fighters into the IDF. It reached Kfar Vitkin, north of Tel Aviv, on June 20. The immigrants disembarked, and local Irgun members unloaded about 40% of the weapons. Disputes with the IDF then escalated into gunfire, sending the ship toward Tel Aviv with Begin aboard.

Ben-Gurion insisted that the new state could have only one sovereign authority and one monopoly over weapons. That principle applied to the Irgun and the Palmach, the Haganah’s elite strike force, both of which ultimately surrendered separate command structures and integrated into the IDF. Rolef writes that Ben-Gurion also distrusted Begin and feared he could encourage a revolt.

When negotiations failed, Ben-Gurion ordered the shelling. As the ship burned and others evacuated, Begin jumped into the water. Sixteen Irgun members and three IDF soldiers died. The episode remains a potent symbol, and the author argues that its renewed use by right-wing ministers reflects how the Altalena continues to serve Israel’s political battles.