Knesset Speaker ReuvenRivlin participated, Sundayafternoon, in a memorial servicefor people who were killed in June 1948, when government forces fired at the Irgun militia ship Altalena, which was bringing weapons from France. Referring to contemporary issues, Rivlin said, "There aresomewho downplay the dangerofcivil war,the intensity ofinternal rift,butwe who knowthe lessons of theAltalena,they should notbe underestimated."
Rivlin said, "Stronger nationsthan us fellto the disasterof internal war.And we too,in our history,were conqueredin the temptation ofideologicalfanaticism,which destroyedour house. Neighboring countrieshaveexperiencedandstill experience thelackoffar-seeing leadership,thetakeover ofterror, fear,theethnicclashesandcivil wars. Their fateandthe fateof the Altalena must serve asa warning:We are notimmune. I believe we canmeet the challengesthe future holds for us onlyif we go backandrepeat the remarks of our teacher, Menachem Begin "A civil war? Never again!"