יד לאניית הנשק אלטלנה
בי"ד סיון התש"ח
21.6.1948
הגיעה לחופי המולדת
בתיאום עם נציגי ממשלת ישראל האנייה "אלטלנה" -
ועל סיפונה 930 לוחמות ולוחמים של האצ"ל. רובם ניצולי שואה שבאו להצטרף לצה"ל
במלחמה נגד הפולש הערבי. באנייה היו כמויות גדולות של נשק ותחמושת.
עקב חילוקי דעות בין ממשלת ישראל למפקדת האצ"ל בנוגע להקצאת מקצת מן הנשק לנדוד האצ"ל בירושלים, שטרם נכללה בתחום מדינת ישראל (ה"הגנה" האצ"ל והלח"י פעלו בה עדיין באופן עצמאי), הופגזה האנייה בחוף בהוראת הממשלה הזמנית.

ואלה שמות לוחמי האצ"ל שנפלו בארוע הטראגי:

מישל ויקטור אסואיד / אריה ויקטור פקולה
אליעזר וייץ / אברהם כהן
יצחק כהן / אהרון כרסנטי
דניאל לוי / איתמר ליפשיץ
דוד מטרני / אברהם, סטבסקי
אברהם עודד / דן גליקמן
מנדל קופמן / דב קלנר
שלמה קוטנובסקי / צבי רייפר

סמל האצ"ל
סמל עיריית תל אביב

[צללית של האונייה]

The Etzel emblem
Tel Aviv municipality symbol

[silhouette of the ship]

On June 21 1948, the IZL arms ship
ALTALENA
anchored off this shore, was shelled on orders of the provisional government of Israel.
It was carrying 930 passengers who had come to fight in the war against the invading Arab armies.
Some of the salvaged weapons were used by the Israeli army in the War Of Independence.

The monument standing on the Tel Aviv beach where the ship landed was photographed that day by the same photographer Click for a larger image

The following texts appear on both sides of the monument:
ALTALENA
"Civil war
Never"
..!
Menachem Begin’s signature
Click for a larger image

their lives - war;
Their death - heroism;
Their sacrifice - holiness;
their memory - eternity;

Menachem Begin - Commander of the National Military Organization
Click for a larger image

On June 5, 2023, an article was published in the newspaper "Haaretz" entitled "The Altlana Affair: 75 Years of Lies" in which Ofer Aderet writes that the Altlena crew did not recognize the authority of the Israeli government, did not report the voyage, and did not obey their commander who ordered them to retreat. Also, the 3 IDF soldiers who were killed in the exchange of fire are not mentioned.

A monument with an almost identical text is in the "Nachlat Yitzhak" cemetery on the border of Tel Aviv - Givatayim Click for sign's details

Translation of the text on the sign:
[As mentioned, the Hebrew text is different from the English text]

Memorial for the weapons ship Altalena
21.6.1948
arrived at the shores of the homeland
In coordination with representatives of the Israeli government, the ship "Altalena" -
And on board are 930 men and women fighters of the Etzel. Most of them are Holocaust survivors who came to join the IDF
in the war against the Arab invader. The ship had large quantities of weapons and ammunition.
Due to differences of opinion between the Israeli government and the Irgun headquarters regarding the allocation of some of the weapons to the Etzel in Jerusalem, which had not yet been included in the domain of the State of Israel (the Etzel "Hagana" and the Lehi still operated independently), the ship was shelled on the coast by order of the Provisional Government .

And these are the names of the Etzel soldiers who fell in the tragic event: