Ben-Gvir compares himself to Begin as Netanyahu avoids him

The ceremony to mark the rediscovery of the Altalena in Tel Aviv today was marked by political catfighting, as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir took aim at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for avoiding being seen with him at the ceremony.

Netanyahu avoided being photographed with his national security minister for the duration of the event, deciding to give his speech on beach outside Etzel House, a museum dedicated to the Irgun, where the ceremony was to take place.

This led Ben Gvir to compare himself to Irgun commander and former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, saying, "Begin knew the taste of persecution."

He continued, saying "People sit in the most private rooms with you, and in the moment of truth, they don't want to take a picture with you."

Other senior members of Ben Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party attacked Netanyahu for avoiding him, saying that his behavior meant that Netanyahu was planning to side with Eisenkot against their party.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu spoke of the sacrifice that Begin made during the Altalena incident recalling Begin's famous phrase during the incident, which claimed 19 lives, "Citizens of Israel, civil war? Never!"

The Altalena was sunk by the newly established Israel Defense Forces 500 meters from Israel's coast during the 1948 War of Independence. The ship was part of an Irgun supply operation aimed at bringing to bring weapons and ammunition to support the Irgun during the war.

The ship had arrived in violation of the UN ceasefire brokered in the first months of the war, leading Prime Minister David Ben Gurion to order the IDF to sink the ship in order to uphold the ceasefire, which included an arms import embargo.

Begin's decision to order the full integration of the Irgun into the IDF in the wake of the sinking of the Altalena is seen by many Israelis as one of the fundamental political actions that ensured the existence of the State of Israel, as it meant that the IDF was the sole military of Jewish forces during the war, preventing a civil war.

The Altalena was found by Israeli divers earlier in the day during a complex marine search operation involving collaboration between Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and Roni Sade, director of the Marine Mapping Division at the Israel Mapping Center, known as MAPI.