- Did you know that the new Israeli state
almost destroyed itself five weeks after it was founded?
How did civil war threaten the new nation
before Israel's 1948 War of Independence was even over?
Let's think about the infamous Altalena Affair.
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On a bright sunny summer day in Tel Aviv
Jewish soldiers in the newly formed Israeli army
opened fire on a Jewish ship, the Altalena,
killing other Jewish fighters
and ultimately blowing up the ship
which had been carrying thousands of weapons and ammunition
meant for the Israeli War of Independence.
I know what you're thinking, how could this possibly happen?
And how was Israel able to pull back
from the brink of self-destruction?
Before we get into these questions, let's take a step back.
Remember, until May 1948 there was no state of Israel
so there was no official Israeli army.
Instead, pre-state Israel was controlled by the British
under the British Mandate of Palestine.
In response to Arab riots and pogroms
against the Jews in the 1920's and 30's,
the Jewish community founded an underground defense militia
called the Haganah or "Defense."
In order to avoid British restrictions
the Haganah exercised a policy of restraint.
Being careful to defend Jews from Arab violence
but never counterattacked or preempt.
Sounds simple enough, right?
Not really.
There were other Jews who, believe it or not,
didn't really agree.
These other Jews weren't in love
with this policy of restraint
and because there was no Jewish State yet
and no official army, they felt no need to
obey the decisions of the Haganah.
So they established their own
underground military organization called
Irgun Zvai Leumi,
The National Military Organization or the Irgun for short.
And the Irgun had no problem taking a more aggressive role
against the Arabs effort to prevent a Jewish state
and even carried out attacks against the British
who weren't exactly welcome by either side.
Jump forward to 1939 during World War II.
With the Nazis on the rise,
it was clear that the danger to millions of European Jews
was severe and imminent and at this time
the British chose to issue The White Paper,
a policy limiting Jewish immigration to Palestine
and ultimately preventing the escape of
hundreds of thousands of Jews from the Nazis.
So, while the British were fighting the Nazis
they were also preventing Jewish refugees
from immigrating to Palestine.
It comes as no surprise that the Haganah,
led by Ben-Gurion and the Irgun, led by Menachem Begin
disagreed on how to deal with this dilemma.
These two leaders would be the main players
in the upcoming Altalena disaster,
which we'll get to in a minute.
The Irgun eventually chose to continue to fight the British
because of their restricted immigration policy.
While the Haganah tried to cooperate with the British,
both in fighting the Nazis and in
curbing the activities of the Irgun
despite the British immigration policy.
During a tragic period in 1944, called The Hunting Season,
the Haganah even arrested members of the Irgun
and handed them over to the British,
knowing full well that they might be hanged.
This just shows the magnitude of the Haganah's fear
that the Irgun attacks were putting their
cooperative relationship with the British in jeopardy,
threatening the very existence of a future state.
However, once World War II ended in 1945
and the British showed no sign
of easing immigration restrictions,
the Haganah decided to join the Irgun's revolt
against the British.
Then, in 1947 the big day arrived.
The United Nations voted to partition the land
into one Jewish state, which the Jews accepted
and one Arab state, which the Arabs declined.
So in May 1948, the British threw up their hands
and said, "Cheerio" and left the Jews and Arabs
to duke it out.
That same day, Ben-Gurion declared
the establishment of the State of Israel.
Now that Israel was officially a state
there could only be one army and so the underground Haganah
morphed into Israel Defense Forces, also known as the IDF.
The much smaller Irgun, led by Menachem Begin
agreed to be absorbed into the ranks of the IDF
although they remained in distinct Irgun battalions
within the army.
There was still a huge amount of distrust
between the two groups and in this toxic environment
armed conflict against each other was not only likely
but almost inevitable.
And now finally, let's get back to the Altalena.
A month into the war the UN brokered a ceasefire
between the Arab and Israeli forces
and one of the conditions was that
no new arms could be brought in during this ceasefire.
This put Israel, which was very short
on weapons and ammunition, at a slight disadvantage
when facing an assortment of armies
from the surrounding Arab states
intent on wiping it off the face of the Earth.
And it is now that the long-standing tensions
between the Haganah and the Irgun resurfaced,
culminating in the Altalena Affair.
The same day the UN ceasefire was announced
an Irgun boat in France, who had their own power struggle
with the British, set sail for Israel.
Oh, and this boat was packed with thousands of guns
and millions of bullets meant for Israel's
fight for independence along with
940 future soldiers and immigrants.
Begin hadn't given the order to set sail
and when he found out about this snafu,
he alerted the Haganah, not wanting to appear
as if he were undermining Ben-Gurion's command.
Begin wanted to land the ship in Tel Aviv
but Ben-Gurion feared that this violation of the ceasefire
would be too obvious.
Instead, he preferred to land the ship in Kfar Vitkin
a few miles north, away from prying eyes.
Oh, and an area that was also deeply committed
to the Haganah side of the political divide, or not.
See, there is a lot of confusion around
the events of the Altalena and it's not totally clear
whether the landing was approved by Ben-Gurion
or went against his orders.
Begin agreed but was adamant that 80% of the weapons
would be distributed to Irgun battalions within the IDF.
The other 20% he wanted to give to the Irgun's
Jerusalem battalion which operated independently,
having never been absorbed into the IDF.
And he felt that this was a perfectly reasonable request.
But to Ben-Gurion, arming thousands of Irgunist soldiers,
loyal to Begin, didn't sound like the best idea.
There could only be one army with one central command
and Ben-Gurion took Begin's request as insubordinate at best
and treasonous at worst.
The distrust between them was so deep
that Ben-Gurion feared that
Begin might be planning a military coup.
The Altalena finally anchored off the coast at Kfar Vitkin.
Some passengers disembarked and joined the IDF
while other Irgun members began to unload the cargo.
And this is where things went south.
Ben-Gurion, sending instructions to his officers
at Kfar Vitkin, ordered Begin to hand over
all of the cargo to the Haganah immediately
with no preconditions and warned Begin
that he was surrounded by IDF troops.
Begin refused to acknowledge the ultimatum.
It may not have occurred to him that Ben-Gurion
considered him a danger to the State.
Instead, he assumed that this was the usual bluster
and tried to negotiate.
In this confusing and tense atmosphere shots were fired.
We don't know who fired or why, but within minutes
there was an open fire fight
between the Haganah and the Irgun.
Begin fled to the ship on a rowboat while under fire.
Once onboard, he directed the Altalena
to rush along the coast towards Tel Aviv
hoping to speak directly with Ben-Gurion.
On the beach were dead and wounded soldiers from both sides.
Rumors spread and former Irgun members
started leaving their posts.
Civil war was now a real possibility.
The Altalena exchanged fire with IDF warships
eventually running aground off the coast of Tel Aviv.
In full view of anyone strolling down the boardwalk,
IDF soldiers, led by Haganah commanders Yigal Alon
and future Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin,
opened fire on the Irgunists.
Begin ordered his men not to fire, even if fired upon.
But in the fog of battle, his orders weren't followed.
Ben-Gurion gave the order to fire a cannon at the Altalena
and sink it at sea.
The Irgunists abandoned ship just as the ammunition onboard
exploded, sending the Altalena to the bottom of the sea.
All told, 16 Irgunists and three Haganah soldiers
were killed in the battle.
Irgunists were rounded up and the IDF soldiers
who refused to fire on fellow Jews were court-martialed.
Begin, who escaped arrest, went on the radio
and demanded that his followers not fight the IDF
declaring, "A war between brothers, never!"
Some historians credit Begin with preventing civil war.
Although, to be fair, he was also the guy
who almost started one to begin with.
Begin himself considered averting civil war
to be his life's greatest accomplishment.
However, to Ben-Gurion, his own success
in establishing the integrity of one army
and the sovereignty of Israel as one unified state
was the greatest thing to come from the Altalena Affair.
As a result of the affair, there would no longer be
distinct Irgun battalions within the IDF.
In any case, most people consider the Altalena Affair
to have been a tragedy that could have been avoided.
Fueled by the strong personalities
of two of Israel's greatest leaders
both of whom made mistakes.
In fact, the enmity between the two leaders
remained deep after the war,
and although they eventually made peace,
the animosity between their followers
persisted through the decades
and can even be seen in the divide between what has become
the left and the right in Israeli politics today.
But, how should we view the Altalena Affair?
It remains controversial,
maybe because it seems so paradoxical.
Did the tragedy further divide Israeli society?
Or by coming so close to civil war
and then averting it, did the events strengthen
and ultimately unify the elements of Israeli society?
Or was it a little of both?
Leave a comment bellow and don't forget to subscribe.
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