Although more than fifty years have passed since the
distressing Altalena affair when Jews killed fellow Jews on
the boat called "Altalena," the subject refuses to disappear
from the news. This is because of the repeated attempts on
the part of sympathizers of the Mapai (Israeli Labor Party)
as it was known then, to distort history by taking the
responsibility for what happened away from Mapai members,
including Yitzhak Rabin who gave the order to blow up the
boat with a cannon. Rumor has it that this cannon was
subsequently termed "the holy cannon" by Ben Gurion, whose
reputation suffered from the whole affair.
Recently there was a renewed attempt to distort the facts,
but this time former Defense Minister Moshe Arens wrote an
article in Ha'aretz to reject this misrepresentation
of history. He wrote as follows:
"Over the past few days a lot has been said about the Prime
Minister's comparison between Israel and Czechoslovakia,
which fell victim to the policy of appeasement towards Hitler
in 1938. On the other hand, not much attention was paid to
the comparison made by "political sources" between the
relationship between Arafat and the Hamas and Islamic Jihad
on the one hand and Ben Gurion's order to sink the Altalena,
which was bringing weapons and volunteers for the War Of
Independence on the other hand. Political sources were quoted
in the media as saying that `Arafat has not yet had his
Altalena.' Several journalists who do not know very much
about the tragic events leading to the sinking of the boat on
the shore of Tel Aviv repeated the comparison.
History never repeats itself and historical comparisons
inevitably attract criticism, but whereas Sharon's statement
related to an historical event engraved in the memory of
every Jew, the attempt to appease the Germans and abandon the
Jews -- the statement attributed to "political circles" are
part of an ongoing attempt to falsify history.
The claim that Ben Gurion in June 1948 suppressed an attempt
by Menachem Begin to initiate an armed uprising against the
Israeli Government is a lie. The attempt to make an analogy
between Ben Gurion and Arafat and between Begin and Sheikh
Ahmad Yassin borders on the offensive, but even worse is the
attempt to distort the events of that period and present an
unsubstantiated description of them as if it was an agreed
historical version.
The reality of what happened on the 22nd June 1948 on the
shores of Tel Aviv is backed up by solid evidence. A few
months previously supporters of Etzel in the United States
purchased a redundant landing craft from the American fleet,
gave it the name "Altalena" and with the help of
representatives of the French government collected a large
supply of weapons and ammunition in France and loaded it onto
the boat at a port next to Marseille. 940 young men and
women, Holocaust survivors from DP camps and volunteers from
the United States, Cuba and Western Europe, all of them eager
to participate in the war, boarded the boat at that port.
There is no doubt that the weapons and volunteers on that
boat had the potential to make an important contribution to
Israel's bitter struggle against the invading Arab armies.
Almost 3 weeks before that date, on the 3rd June, Yisrael
Galili, Ben Gurion's deputy at the Defense Ministry had come
to an agreement with Menachem Begin to integrate the Etzel
units into the IDF. The agreement was quickly implemented so
that with the exception of Yerushalaim -- where Israel had
not yet declared sovereignty -- Etzel had effectively ceased
to exist.
Begin notified Galili of the expected arrival of the Altalena
and Galili told him on the 15th June that he should instruct
it to anchor at Kfar Vitkin. When the boat reached Kfar
Vitkin and started to unload its cargo, Begin realized that
he had fallen into a trap. The area was surrounded by armed
soldiers and the passengers who disembarked were arrested.
Begin, who feared the worst, boarded the boat and instructed
it to sail to Tel Aviv, hoping that Ben-Gurion would thus
refrain from any military activity against it, since it would
be witnessed by the inhabitants of Tel Aviv.
He was wrong. Ben Gurion instructed the IDF to open fire on
the Altalena. The boat, which was loaded with weapons, was in
danger of exploding. This would have killed all its
passengers, including Begin. It was only the skillful
maneuvers of the captain, Monroe Fine -- a former officer in
the American navy, who served in the Pacific Ocean during
the Second World War and hoped to join the Israeli navy --
which enabled the passengers to abandon the boat and swim
ashore. They were shot at while still inside the water. 16
people were killed, 14 of them Holocaust survivors and two
Jewish volunteers from Cuba. Begin's instructions not to
return fire prevented a bigger tragedy.
Ignoring the need for the cargo of weapons and reinforcements
inside the Altalena, and using the pretext that he was
suppressing a rebellion Ben-Gurion attempted to liquidate his
political opponents. He demonstrated his utter hatred of
Begin over the following years refusing even to mention his
name during discussions in the Knesset.
This was a tragic chapter in Israel's history, and should be
remembered for what it was, not in a distorted manner.
Linking it to our current situation with Arafat is
unforgivable.
