Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hails the spirit of the Altalena as he unveils a new memorial to the the victims of the controversial ammunition boat.
“The men of the Altalena gritted their teeth and joined the IDF to help defeat the invading Arabs,” Netanyahu says, unveiling the memorial to the 1948 Altalena incident, which cast a pall over the foundation of the Israel Defense Forces.
“We continue in their path. The war against our enemies is not over,” the prime minister says.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the service in memory of the victims of Altalena Affair in Tel Aviv, on October 27, 2016. ( Miriam Alster/Flash90)
The ship, carrying a large consignment of arms and weapons, was brought to Israel by Menachem Begin’s Irgun militia during the country’s War of Independence, in June 1948. However, the nascent government of David Ben-Gurion, at bitter odds with Begin, demanded that the ship and its supplies be turned over to the newly formed IDF.
As the ship reached the coast and then ran aground, a standoff ensued that ended in a shootout between Irgun members aboard and IDF soldiers on the shore, who were ordered to destroy the vessel. The ship was set ablaze by a cannon that was allegedly under the command of a young Yitzhak Rabin, later the IDF chief of General Staff and prime minister.
Sixteen Irgun members and three IDF soldiers died in the incident, and the ship’s cargo was lost.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
