On Monday, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced the discovery of the wreck of the Irgun’s cargo vessel, the Altalena, a ship carrying weapons from France to the paramilitary group before being sunk on the orders of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, in June 1948. This discovery, coinciding with a heightened political tension between Israeli politics and the burgeoning right-wing movement, has ignited a fierce debate regarding the legacy of the Irgun and its connection to the Nakba, the forced displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel.
The Irgun, a militia implicated in the killing and torture of dozens of Palestinians during the 1948 war, remains a deeply controversial element in Israeli history. Its actions during the Nakba, the displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians, continue to resonate with many, fueling a complex narrative of responsibility and conflict. The Altalena’s sinking, triggered by a dispute over control of the weapons onboard, had previously fueled fears of a civil war between Israeli forces and the Irgun, a concern that intensified in the lead-up to the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud party claims descent from the Irgun, was reported to have rushed to the Etzel Museum, named for the Irgun’s Hebrew acronym, near Jaffa. At the site on Monday, Netanyahu released a rival video address from the same building, attempting to reclaim the wreck’s symbolism for his right-wing base.
Netanyahu has been struggling in the polls ahead of October elections, described by many as critical to Israel and Netanyahu’s own future, facing potential imprisonment on corruption charges dating back to 2019, as well as an official reckoning for his government’s failures before the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. The stakes for the Israeli premier could hardly be higher.
The sinking of the Altalena – a pivotal event in the history of the Nakba – had led to a series of violent clashes between Israelis, with Irgun fighters, alongside the Lehi, engaging in massacres and attacks against villages and civilians. In April 1948, Irgun fighters, alongside the Lehi, massacred more than a hundred villagers, including women and children in Deir Yassin, near Jerusalem, despite the village having reached a non-aggression pact with the nascent Israeli forces.
Historians, such as Yehouda Shenhav-Shahrabani, suggest that the schism between Irgun and the main body of the Israeli military represents a faultline through Israeli politics that is still visible today. The Irgun were responsible for some of the worst violence of the Nakba, including the killing of over 90 people in the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946.
Despite this, the story of finding the Altalena is only important to the battle between Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir, Tel Aviv University’s Daniel Bar-Tal said. Ben-Gvir appeared to have wrong-footed Netanyahu by taking control of the announcement, before further highlighting their rivalry by making it known that the prime minister had declined to be photographed with him.
Ben-Gvir, who has played a pivotal role in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, compared himself to Begin. “He [Begin] knew, intimately, what it tastes like when others don’t want to be photographed with you on the same stage,” said Bar-Tal. “This is why I have always argued that there is no real left within Zionism. What is called the Zionist ‘left’ has repeatedly functioned as a fig leaf for a settler-colonial movement organized around Jewish supremacy.”
According to the most recent polls, Netanyahu’s Likud is consistently trailing his principal rival, former Israeli military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar Party. Voters on the far right of Israel’s politics – including those that have been supportive of Ben-Gvir – could be decisive in the election.
However, “the story of finding the Altalena is only important to the battle between Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir,” Tel Aviv University’s Daniel Bar-Tal said. “It does not have any importance for most of the voters.” Bar-Tal said Ben-Gvir appeared to have wrong-footed Netanyahu by taking control of the announcement, before further highlighting their rivalry by making it known that the prime minister had declined to be photographed with him.
Ben-Gvir, who has played a pivotal role in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, compared himself to Begin. “He [Begin] knew, intimately, what it tastes like when others don’t want to be photographed with you on the same stage,” said Bar-Tal. “This is why I have always argued that there is no real left within Zionism. What is called the Zionist ‘left’ has repeatedly functioned as a fig leaf for a settler-colonial movement organized around Jewish supremacy.” The discovery of the Altalena has reignited discussions about the legacy of the Irgun and its connection to the Nakba, highlighting the ongoing debate about responsibility for the displacement of Palestinians and the complex political dynamics within Israeli society.
Source: Al Jazeera
