On August 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood outside the Etzel Museum on Tel Aviv’s seafront after the wreck of the Altalena was discovered. The ship, which belonged to the right-wing Zionist paramilitary organisation Etzel, was shelled by the newly formed Israeli military in 1948. Netanyahu promised to raise it from the seabed and turn it into a symbol for future generations, centred on the message: “Civil war, never again.” Etzel, better known in English as Irgun, promoted a highly nationalistic vision of Jewish political life and advocated Jewish military supremacy.
It had operated as an independent armed organisation before Israel’s establishment and resisted surrendering its weapons and autonomy to the new state. In June 1948, as it was being absorbed into the newly formed Israeli military, the Altalena arrived carrying more than 900 immigrants, medical supplies and a large shipment of weapons. Irgun and the government could not agree on control of the arms, and the dispute escalated into fighting.
After an initial confrontation north of Tel Aviv, the ship sailed south towards the city. Left-wing Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion ordered Israeli forces to shell it off Tel Aviv. Etzel leader Menachem Begin, who was on board, urged his supporters not to retaliate and warned against civil war.
For the Israeli right, the Altalena became a symbol of the left’s willingness to use force against fellow Jews to impose its political authority. The episode endured as a historical grievance, but it never became a constant feature of Israeli political life. For decades, it largely remained a symbolic tale, invoked from time to time before gradually receding into historical memory.
Its rediscovery in the middle of an election campaign has abruptly revived that symbolism. By invoking Begin’s warning against civil war while resurrecting one of the right’s oldest grievances against the left, Netanyahu was not simply calling for unity. He was also issuing a veiled threat: We remember what you did.
If need be, we will come for you as you came for us. Still, is Israel really headed for a civil war? This seems highly unlikely.
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