The 74 years that have passed since the Altalena affair may not yet provide the satisfactory perspective.
But we, who find ourselves almost daily in the face of an internal challenge and an external obstacle, are not exempt from remembering our past and trying to learn from it the necessary lessons, in order to avoid unnecessary tragedies and unnecessary sacrifices.
The immediate and direct cost of attacking Altalena was 19 killed: 16 killed among Irgun members, and three IDF soldiers, defense personnel.
When the ship arrived, carrying about 900 immigrants from burning Europe and many high-quality weapons, and docked on the shores of Kfar Vitkin, negotiations took place between representatives of the Provisional Government and the Irgun headquarters.
Under Ben-Gurion's order, the negotiations were stopped and an ultimatum was issued - within ten minutes the Irgun members must surrender completely and surrender their demands.
Begin did not respond to the ultimatum, and soon the military opened fire.
The first question asked is, did the continuation of the negotiations endanger Israel's sovereignty and government authority?
Clearly the answer to this question is that there was no risk.
The Irgun has already announced its disbandment. Its men have already been attached to the army, not in command positions of course, positions that were reserved for the Haganah and the Palmach, which reduces the risk of rebellion within the army.
There was not a single demand from the Irgun, which challenged the full authority of the government and its monopoly on the use of force.
In his speech the day after the declaration of independence, Begin said: "And in this part of the homeland, in the liberated part, in the part where Hebrew law will rule - and it is the only legal law in this country - there is no need for a Hebrew underground. "Because our government is."
There was no reason to doubt his words, but not only did Begin prove his approach - as soon as he learned of the ship's departure he updated the Ministry of Defense, and according to their instructions the ship docked off the coast in front of Kfar Vitkin, an area completely controlled by the defense.
Anyone who plans a putsch does not do so.
A second question that deserves to be asked is, was the intensity of the violence used against the Irgun members required? Rabin was very marginal in the incident, he happened to be in Tel Aviv that day when he arrived in Jerusalem from the front.
That is, not only stopping a putsch, but also eliminating a political adversary, stood before the eyes of the shooters as people jumped off the ship in an attempt to reach shore, after the ship began to sink.
People who were unarmed and waved white flags, yet continued to fire at them.
Neither a threat to the young state nor a risk to the regime were at the root of the tragedy, but an insistence on disproportionate authority and an attempt to harm a political opponent.
It was a great miracle for us that the political opponent was called Menachem Begin.
The writer is the head of the Begin Center
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