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Altalena

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (R) are pictured either side of an image of the burning Altalena ship. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90, Hans Pinn/GPO, Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH90)
August 28, 2026, 6:37 pm
How the sunken 1948 Altalena arms ship became an election battleground in Israel in 2026
Always a symbol of the battle between left and right, the re-discovery of the wreck has been seized on by nationalist parties seeking to appropriate the mantle of victimhood
By Deborah Danan
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks from the Israeli coast about the locating of the 1948 vessel Altalena, August 24, 2026. (GPO screenshot)
August 24, 2026, 10:21 pm
PM hails finding of Irgun arms ship Altalena, denounces Ben-Gurion for attacking it in 1948
Netanyahu uses incident to illustrate dangers of civil war while denigrating his political opponents; Ben Gvir likens himself to Irgun leader Begin at separate press event
By Noam Lehmann and ToI Staff
The Altalena ship burns after being shelled near Tel Aviv, June 22, 1948. (Hans Pinn/GPO)
August 24, 2026, 12:57 pm
Wreckage found of Altalena arms ship sunk in deadly 1948 power tussle, far-right ministers announce
IDF says it had no part in search for Irgun ship sunk by army of nascent state; 16 Irgun members, 3 IDF troops died in incident that became right-wing symbol; chances of lifting still-intact vessel said slim
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Cartoon illustrating Israelis' first election, January 25, 1948. (AP Photo/H. E. Munhall)
May 1, 2025, 11:58 am
Daily Briefing May 1: Day 573 – Ben-Gurion’s anguish upon the founding of Israel
In a special Independence Day episode, senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur takes us back to the first prime minister’s conflicted emotions as the nascent state fought enemies and division
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Haviv Rettig Gur
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony for the victims of the 1948 Altalena incident, at Nachalat Yitzhak cemetery in Tel Aviv. June 18, 2024. (Shaul Golan/Pool/Flash90)
June 19, 2024, 12:00 am
Preaching unity, Netanyahu slams ‘loud, sometimes violent’ anti-government protesters
At memorial event for Altalena Affair, PM accuses demonstrators with ‘unimaginable amounts of money’ of not supporting the IDF or the fight against Israel’s enemies
By Shira Silkoff
Benjamin Levin several years ago and as a member of the 'Avengers' partisan group during World War II (Chaim Levin and public domain)
April 20, 2020, 2:30 pm
‘Avenger’ Benjamin Levin, ‘Forrest Gump of Jewish history,’ succumbs to COVID-19
From killing Nazis in Lithuanian forests to jumping from flaming Altalena off Tel Aviv, young hero of Jewish Vilna participated in more than his share of Jewry’s turning points
By Matt Lebovic
President Reuven Rivlin at a ceremony in memory of Israeli soldiers killed in the First Lebanon War in Jerusalem on June 18, 2019 (Noam Revkin Fenton/FLASH90)
June 18, 2019, 7:15 pm
Netanyahu, Rivlin urge ‘unity’ at memorial service for Altalena victims
President: ‘We must not allow divisive discourse to wreck every green pasture. No one knows this better than the prime minister’
By ToI Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a conference with science ministers from around the world in Jerusalem on May 28, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 30, 2018, 7:11 pm
Netanyahu: Israel dealt Gaza terror groups ‘harshest blow in years’
Prime minister says Hamas, Islamic Jihad will ‘pay dearly’ if rocket fire from enclave resumes
By ToI Staff
Cannabis plant. (Kobi Gideon/Flash90)
December 20, 2016, 10:29 pm
Ship sails 450 kg of cannabis to Tel Aviv to fight drug ban
Protesters claim marijuana on board ‘Erdalena’ is intended for medicinal use and distribution among the sick
By ToI Staff
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)
October 28, 2016, 4:38 pm
Unveiling Altalena memorial, Netanyahu says ‘war against our enemies is not over’
Prime minister praises warrior spirit of those aboard Irgun weapons-carrying ship destroyed by nascent IDF in 1948
By ToI Staff
Alatalena Memorial in Nahalat Yitzhak cemetery, Tel Aviv (Avishai Teicher)
October 18, 2016, 8:45 am
New memorial to Altalena victims erected in Tel Aviv
Monument commemorating 16 fighters killed in 1948 incident to be unveiled October 27 in Nahalat Yitzhak cemetery
By ToI Staff
The Wauchope Bridge in Tel Aviv Port, with Reading power station up ahead (Shmuel Bar-Am)
December 19, 2015, 9:08 am
At Tel Aviv Port, once the gateway into the Land of Israel
As the only port wholly under Jewish control before and during the War of Independence, Tel Aviv was crucial for supplies and arms to the budding state. Its modern renovation is a resounding achievement
By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am
Israeli soldiers begin a search operation in the village of Halhul, near the West Bank town of Hebron, on June 29, 2014. (photo credit: AFP/HAZEM BADER)
July 1, 2014, 9:37 am
Horror at teens’ deaths won’t prevent future exchanges
The sense of solidarity seen in the outpouring of grief over the abductees is a defining characteristic of Israeli identity, the source of Israelis’ democratic freedoms, and the reason they can’t abandon one of their own in enemy hands
By Haviv Rettig Gur
London Park (photo credit Shmuel Bar-Am)
January 4, 2014, 1:32 pm
Taking a stroll along Tel Aviv’s HaYarkon Street
The jaunt, which also follows the Shlomo Lahat beachside promenade, includes historic buildings, unusual and touching monuments, and even a voice from the not-so-distant past
By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am
The Altalena ship burns after being shelled near Tel Aviv, June 22, 1948. (Hans Pinn/GPO)
June 20, 2013, 3:39 pm
Fire in the hole: Blasting the Altalena
Sixty-five years after the Irgun ship was shelled by order of Ben-Gurion, with the loss of 16 lives, previously unpublished interviews with several interested parties underline how deeply the animosities over the affair still lingered decades later
By Joanna M. Saidel
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