The Heritage Ministry has invested NIS 1 million in efforts to locate the remains of the Altalena ship, Kan Reshet Bet reported.
According to the report, the ministry hired the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute to locate the remains of the ship. The search is currently on a preliminary level only, aiming to identify the area in which the remains are located.
To this end, Israel’s national research vessel, Bat Galim, equipped with advanced marine detection technology, will be deployed.
The issue was raised again during a government meeting last week. During the meeting, Justice Minister Yariv Levin urged, “The ship must be found and turned into a symbol of the Revisionists’ bravery.”
The Altalena belonged to the Irgun (Etzel) and was shelled and sunk by the IDF in June 1948, during the first ceasefire of the War of Independence, on orders from then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. It was carrying about 900 immigrants and a large cache of weapons.