Jerusalem
Netanyahu, Rivlin urge ‘unity’ at memorial service for Altalena victims
By Itzhak Rabihiya
President: ‘We must not allow divisive discourse to wreck
every green pasture. No one knows this better than the prime minister’
PM Netanyahu: "We are holding open and secret contacts
with many leaders of the Arab world and there are ramified contacts between the
State of Israel and Arab countries, with most of the Arab countries.
Both President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu urged “unity” and civil political discourse at a memorial
ceremony on Tuesday for the victims of the ship Altalena, sunk during the War
of Independence amid infighting among Jewish military groups – Israel times
report today.
Netanyahu said: “We are all committed to prevent a war
amongst brothers. A difference of opinion is an inseparable part of democracy.
“Democracy is
a unity of the people. Unity is not uniformity, but when we argue we must
remember that we are brothers. We are one people, there is no other.”
Rivlin said the ceremony served as a reminder “that
the greatest threat to our country, even 70 years after the nation’s founding,
lies within us.”
He warned that “Altalenic discourse rules Israel. An
accusatory discourse that is at times superficial and violent. Even the word
‘unity,’ tossed into the air, seems meaningless and fades quickly in the
context of the general atmosphere.”
“Each tribe wishes for only its story to be told, for
its truth to win out. Instead of striving for a shared framework, right and
left seek to erase the other side’s story,” he said. “We must not allow
divisive discourse to continue to wreck every green pasture.”
He added, in possible criticism of Netanyahu: “No one
knows this better than the prime minister.”
Netanyahu has often been accused of divisive
discourse. In recent months, as his legal troubles have grown, he has
repeatedly claimed that the charges against him are part of a left-wing plot to
bring him down, though he has provided no evidence for this.
“If we do not safeguard the fabric that binds us,
we’ll fall into the abyss of hate that has destroyed our national home more
than once,” Rivlin said.
The Altalena ship, carrying a large consignment of
arms and weapons, was brought to Israel by Menachem Begin’s Irgun militia
during the country’s War of Independence, in June 1948.
However, the nascent government of David Ben-Gurion,
at bitter odds with Begin, demanded that the ship and its supplies be turned
over to the newly formed Israel Defense Forces.
As the ship reached the coast and then ran aground, a
standoff ensued that ended in a shootout between Irgun members aboard and IDF
soldiers on the shore, who were ordered to destroy the vessel. The ship was set
ablaze by fire from cannon used by the forces on the shore under the command of
a young Yitzhak Rabin, later the IDF chief of General Staff and prime minister.
Sixteen Irgun members and three IDF soldiers died in
the incident, and the ship’s cargo was lost. The affair later became a rallying
cry for Israel’s right.
“If there is heroism in the Altalena affair…Menachem
Begin is the hero,” Rivlin said. “Begin is a symbol and a shining example that
even after blood has been spilled, one can do everything to maintain our
unity.”
Netanyahu meanwhile said that for decades the
narrative of “one camp was pushed aside” in the retelling of the affair.
“History was written and sometimes rewritten by those who saw themselves as the
victors,” he said. “It is only thanks to our actions, those of our government,
that the warriors now receive their rightful place in the annals of Israel.”
On Monday Rivlin and Netanyahu appeared to spar over the role of
Israel’s judiciary at an event at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, with
the president seemingly criticizing Netanyahu’s attitude toward the courts.
Attached photo credit: Kobi Gideon (GPO)
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