Netanyahu vows to raise the ‘Altalena’ from the depths of the Mediterranean
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Monday to raise the Altalena from the depths of the Mediterranean Sea following the announcement that the vessel, which symbolizes a painful episode in the early history of…
Assessment
Netanyahu is turning a 78-year-old shipwreck into a political monument. The Altalena was an Irgun arms ship sunk by David Ben-Gurion's orders in 1948, a flashpoint that nearly sparked a Jewish civil war. By pledging to raise it and invoking "civil war never again," Netanyahu is using a foundational trauma to frame his current political battles. Watch whether the recovery effort becomes a state project or a partisan symbol.