Unveiling Altalena memorial, Netanyahu says ‘war against our enemies is not over’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Thursday hailed the spirit of those who fought on the Altalena as he unveiled a new memorial to the victims of the 1948 destruction of the controversial ammunition boat.

“The men of the Altalena gritted their teeth and joined the IDF to help defeat the invading Arabs,” Netanyahu said while unveiling the memorial in the Nahalat Yitzhak cemetery to those who died in 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 said.

Netanyahu tailored his remarks in light of the latest anti-Israel measure passed by UNESCO on Wednesday, saying that Israel’s conflict with its enemies is not only a military one, “but also a conflict about historic truth, about our roots, about our past, about our rights in our homeland, about the Land of Israel, and our capital of Jerusalem.”

The prime minister added that “those who are trying to erase our past, are also trying to erase our future. Therefore we will continue to fight for the truth while also defending the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu also used the occasion to comment on Israel’s current security situation, saying that “a few of the Arab states that fought against us in the past, and not just those with which we have made peace, are now on our side.”

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 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 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.