A 1 million-shekel state search located the Altalena wreck 20 kilometers off Israel’s coast at a depth of 503 meters, but Monday’s announcement was framed by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Amichai Eliyahu as their own achievement.
The Survey of Israel — under the Construction and Housing Ministry, not either minister — carried out the sonar search, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz were largely left out of the rollout.
Questions quickly followed official claims that the ship was found “intact,” with Altalena historian Shlomo Nakdimon saying major upper sections had been dismantled and burned before the remaining hull was deliberately sunk.
The wreck’s symbolism makes ownership politically sensitive: the 1948 Altalena clash killed 16 Irgun members and three IDF soldiers and remains tied to Menachem Begin, Likud’s founding legacy.
Authorities are now documenting the site, while options such as a floating memorial or selective recovery are being weighed because raising the full hull from 503 meters is seen as impractical.