Wreckage found of Altalena arms ship sunk in 1948 power tussle, ministers say

By Sam Sokol 24 August 2026, 11:06 am

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

The Altalena ship burns after being shelled near Tel Aviv, June 22, 1948. (Hans Pinn/GPO)

Divers have located the wrecked remains of the Altalena, a cargo ship bringing arms to the Irgun militia during the 1948 War of Independence that was sunk on the orders of then-prime minister David Ben-Gurion, government ministers announce.

The ship, still intact, was located at 12:30 a.m. at a depth of 503 meters (1,650 feet) off Israel’s coast “during a complex naval search operation,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu announce in a joint statement.

They credit “long months of meticulous planning and preparation” and “special sensors and advanced survey systems” for the find, saying more details will be revealed at a press conference.

The gun-running ship was initially brought to Israel by Menachem Begin’s Irgun militia during the country’s War of Independence in June 1948.

With the state and its military only a few weeks old, Ben-Gurion demanded that the ship and cargo be turned over to the newly formed IDF, sparking an armed confrontation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the unveiling of a new monument to the victims of the 1948 Altalena incident, at Nahalat Yitzhak cemetery in Tel Aviv, October 27, 2016. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

The vessel, which ran aground in Tel Aviv, was shelled by forces on the shore under the command of a young Yitzhak Rabin, later the IDF chief of General Staff and prime minister, and caught fire.

Sixteen Irgun members and three IDF soldiers died in the incident, and the ship’s cargo was lost. The wreckage was later towed out to sea and sunk, though efforts have been made to locate it in recent decades.

A military spokesperson tells The Times of Israel that the IDF had no involvement in the operation to locate the vessel.

The Kan public broadcaster reported in August 2025 that Eliyahu had invested NIS 1 million ($335,000) in efforts to recover the historic ship, funding Israel’s “Bat-Galim” marine research vessel, which was equipped with the necessary technology to locate its remains.

Eliyahu calls the discovery “a defining moment for our national memory.”

“Tonight, we are closing a historic circle on one of the most painful and formative events in the history of Israeli society,” says Ben Gvir, whose role in the operation is unclear. Ben Gvir heads the Otzma Yehudit party, which Eliyahu belongs to.