Amichai Eliyahu's Heritage Ministry is examining how to locate the Altalena ship which was shot off the coast of Tel Aviv by the IDF in June 1948, Eliyahu revealed in a government meeting on Sunday, Israeli public broadcaster KAN News reported on Monday.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) agreed with Eliyahu that the remains of the ship should be located, stating that it "should be turned into a monument and a symbol of the heroism of the Revisionist movement," KAN reported.
In response, the Otzma Yehudit minister commented that he is "making efforts in this direction." He plans to bring the "Holy Cannon," which was used to fire on the ship, to the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, where it will serve as a symbol of the man who prevented a civil war," he added, according to KAN.
Eliyahu later spoke to Channel 14's The Patriots, where he described the "pain" that still remains over the affair.
The CEO of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, Herzl Makov, announced their intentions to search the seabed for the wreckage of the ship in 2019, KAN noted.
What was the Altalena Affair?
The Altalena, which belonged to the paramilitary Irgun organization, at the time, led by Menachem Begin, attempted to smuggle weapons to the paramilitary organization during Israel's Independence War, before then-prime minister David Ben-Gurion ordered the IDF to open fire when the Altalena was off the coast of Tel Aviv.
The ship was carrying approximately 900 immigrants and arms.
It originally docked at Vitkin Beach on June 20, 1948, where immigrants disembarked and military equipment was unloaded. IDF troops intervened, demanding the Irgun hand over the weapons, which led to a shootout between the paramilitary group and the nascent army.
Begin then ordered the ship to sail towards Tel Aviv, arriving there on June 22, where it was shelled by the "Holy Cannon."
The incident led to the death of 16 Irgun members and three IDF soldiers. It nearly triggered a civil war before Begin issued a statement on the radio ordering Irgun members not to retaliate.