Report: Heritage Ministry investing NIS 1 million in search for sunken Irgun ship Altalena

The Heritage Ministry, led by Amichay Eliyahu, has invested one million shekels in its efforts to recover the Altalena ship, an Irgun cargo ship that was sunk on the orders of then-prime minister David Ben-Gurion in 1948, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The outlet first reported last week that Eliyahu was investigating how to recover the ship.

The Heritage Ministry funds will go toward operating Israel’s “Bat-Galim” marine research vessel, which is equipped with the necessary technology to locate the remains of the Altalena, Kan reports.

The Altalena 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 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 fire from cannon used by the forces on the shore 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.