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| The Altalena ship burns after being shelled near Tel Aviv, June 22, 1948. (Hans Pinn/GPO) |
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
Divers have located the Altalena, a cargo ship bringing arms to the Irgun militia during the 1948 War of Independence that was hit on the orders of then-prime minister David Ben-Gurion and sunk off Israel’s coast, two far-right ministers announced Monday.
The ship, still intact, was located at 12:30 a.m. at a depth of 503 meters (1,650 feet), some 20 kilometers (12 miles) off Israel’s coast “during a complex maritime search operation,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, of the Otzma Yehudit party, announced in a joint statement.
They credited “long months of meticulous planning and preparation” and “special sensors and advanced survey systems” for the find, saying more details were to be revealed at a press conference.
A military spokesperson told The Times of Israel that the IDF had no involvement in the operation to locate the vessel.
According to Hebrew media reports, the effort was led by the Marine Mapping Division of the Survey of Israel, the government agency for mapping and surveying the country.
Hagai Ronen, the agency’s director-general, said Monday that “The locating of the Altalena is an exciting historical moment, in which knowledge, technology and advanced mapping capabilities allow us to touch on a significant chapter in the history of the State of Israel.”
The vessel was found using sonar technology, Ynet reported, adding that the possibility of lifting the entire ship from the water is likely impossible, due to its depth and location.
The outlet said that the Heritage Ministry is considering several options for potential monuments, including a floating marker, and that an effort to document the vessel while underwater is underway.
The location of the Altalena was previously announced in December 2012, when it was said to be located a few miles off the coast of Rishon Lezion at a depth of 300 meters. At the time, the government said it was interested in raising it and installing it on dry land in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem as a monument.
The gun-running ship was initially brought to Israel by Menachem Begin’s right-wing 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, who was at bitter odds with Begin, demanded that the ship and cargo be turned over to the newly formed IDF, sparking an armed confrontation.
As the ship reached the coast and then ran aground, a standoff ensued that ended in a shootout between Irgun members aboard and IDF and Palmach soldiers on the shore, who were ordered to destroy the vessel. The ship was set ablaze by artillery fire 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.
The incident is widely perceived to have brought the nascent state to the brink of civil war. Begin, who ordered his forces not to fire back, would later say, “My greatest accomplishment was not retaliating and causing civil war
The wreckage was later towed out to sea and sunk, and the Altalena affair has since become a rallying cry for Israel’s right.
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 called Sunday’s 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,” said Ben Gvir, whose role in the operation is unclear. Ben Gvir heads the Otzma Yehudit party, which Eliyahu belongs to.
Emanuel Fabin contributed to this report.
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