In advance of the commemoration Sunday of the deaths of passengers on the Irgun's Altalena weapons ship, the Defense Ministry publicized a website that contained an invitation to a ceremony commemorating the deaths of those on the ship, listing the victims of the attack by Hagana-affiliated IDF forces in 1948 as “murdered.”
That term has never been used in connection with the Altalena dead, as it would imply that the victims who were bombed while on the ship and later fired at while they tried to swim to shore were targeted as unarmed individuals by Hagana forces, operating under orders of David Ben-Gurion and unit commander Yitzchak Rabin, under whom the soldiers that opened fire at the Altalena served.
The implication was quickly picked up by Ha'aretz, which asked the Defense Ministry to do something about it. As a result, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered “a correction of this serious error,” with the website and invitation altered. The ceremony itself will be attended by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin.
That term has never been used in connection with the Altalena dead, as it would imply that the victims who were bombed while on the ship and later fired at while they tried to swim to shore were targeted as unarmed individuals by Hagana forces, operating under orders of David Ben-Gurion and unit commander Yitzchak Rabin, under whom the soldiers that opened fire at the Altalena served.
The implication was quickly picked up by Ha'aretz, which asked the Defense Ministry to do something about it. As a result, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered “a correction of this serious error,” with the website and invitation altered. The ceremony itself will be attended by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin.