;.cJ Rpt, Altalena
;.l1,3,63,66,1,0,10,75,192,2,15,20,25,127,10,0,
;.l2,15,75,192,2,20,25,127,15,0,
;.l3,20,75,192,2,25,127,20,0,
MEDIA BIAS
TO:    David bar-Ilan, Eye on Media, Jlem Post
FROM:  Steve Amdur, Kibbutz Haon, Jordan Valley, 15170 Israel.
       Telephone:  972-6-757572; FAX:  972-6-757554
DATE:  4/14/96
RE:     Altalena
REF:    Jlem Rpt 4/18/96 (Yossi Klein, HaLevi)
        =mb032696
       Begin, Revolt (Steinmatsky 1952) Ch. XI-XII & as indexed
       Slater, Rabin/Israel (1993) p75-76
       Dayan, Story of my Life,  95-96
       Eban, Autobiography (1977), p124, p136
       Schmuel Katz, Days of Fire (Steinmatsky 1968) as indexed
CC:     Jlem Rpt
------------------------------------------------------------------
                
TEXT:  "In 1948, David Ben-Gurion ordered the sinking of an Irgunweapons ship off Israel's coast, fearing a right-wing coup."
                                                  
COMMENT:  This is interesting because 
	(a) it states that Ben Gurion ordered the sinking.
	It is not clear if Klein means to indicate that the firingfrom the battery north of Tel Aviv, which apparently haddisregarded Rabin's order to cease firing (Cf. Begin loc. cit.p175) , and which was was sunk the Altalena, was ordered directlyfrom Ben Gurion.  
	More interesting is, if Begin is correct in his impressionthat he was deliberately targeted 
l2 
(loc cit, p174:  "Some of the shooting was directed atspecific targets.  Thus, each time I went up to the captain'sbridge, it was subjected to particularly intense fire.  WhenI left the bridge, the shooting was directed elsewhere." 
	And Cf. ibid. p173:  "One of them ["three corvettes"]opened fairly heavy small arms fire on the little rowing boatin which we went out to the 'Altalena' at Kfar Vitkin."
l1

whether this occurred spontaneously by the soldiers firing, oroccurred in response to an order by Rabin (at Tel Aviv only), byAllon, or from Ben Gurion. 
	Nor has Allon's role been clarified; he apparently (Slaterp76) delivered Ben Gurion's orders to Rabin and then left, maybeto dissociate himself from those orders.

	(b) Klein's offhand characterization of Ben Gurion "fearing aright-wing coup" is what's here historically irresponsible.  Begin(loc cit, eg p155-8, p168-72 ) has detailed the prior coordination of this delivery with the government, and has notedthat the attempt by the Altalena to off-loading its entire cargoat Kfar Vitkin, an easily-isolated beachhead to which thegovernment controlled land access, is clear proof that thesupplies were intended for delivery to the government, and not assupport for a coup.                   

	In short, Begin seems to have assembled conclusive evidencethat no coup was intended, and that Ben Gurion could have nogrounds for fearing a coup.  

---------------------
DISCUSSION:

	In that context one must again ask why Ben Gurion ordered the attack.  
	Dayan argues (p95) that the Irgun decision to openly deliverarms (presumably to the government; Dayan makes no suggestion ofan intended coup) constituted an insubordinate violation of theIsrael-Arab cease-fire; however, Begin notes in detail (loc. cit.p155 ff) that he was willing to accept that restriction, and thatit was with government assent, although not co-operation, that thecargo was off-loaded.              
	Abba Eban argues in his Autobiography (1977;  but not in itsre-write as Personal Witness (1992)) that "Ben Gurion's governmentdecided that the Irgun's action constituted civil disobedience." Again, Eban makes no assertion nor insinuation of insurrection;and again, Begin had detailed the government's agrement inprinciple to the delivery; although at the last moment, with theship at hand, the government broke off discussions on details.
	Slater, disregarding Begin's argument that the Altalenasupplies had been in the pipe-line prior to the June 1 1948agreement to integrate the Irgun into the Hagannah (not simply to"dissolve itself", as Slater puts it).  Slater states, withoutciting documentation, that "The Provisional Government of Israelordered the Irgun to turn the ship over to it, but this demand wasmet by a staunch refusal."  Slater states that at Tel Aviv "Whenthe Altalena again refused to surrender, the Irgunists and Rabin'smen exchanged fire." (p76).  
	Begin, after detailing the co-ordination of the Kfar Vitkinlanding with the Ministry of Security, notes only (p172) that atKfar Vitkin "I received an ultimatum from the local ArmyCommander, a ten-minute [emphasis text] ultimatum."  Beginaccepted Yakov Meridor's suggestion to leave with the ship for TelAviv:  "In this way we could extricate ourselves from these siegeconditions and I would be able to commuiate directly with theGovernment and put an end to what I still hoped was a perilousmisunderstanding somewhere." (p173).

	It might be that when the delivery was discovered by UNOObservors (Begin, p172), that Ben Gurion became primarilyconcerned to at least appear to demonstrate Israel's adherence tothe cease-fire; and perhaps secondarily concerned to forcefullydemonstrate the subordination of the Irgun to the goverment. (Ben-Gurion seems to have a certain idealistic deviousness thatcame to fullest flower in Shimon Peres.)
	In addition, from Begin's account, it seems possible that BenGurion may have at least hoped if not intended that Begin bekilled; and that Rabin was the officer in charge of some of thefiring directed from Tel Aviv with that intent.
                                    
POSTSCRIPTS: 
	As to the remark that "Scores were killed in a shoot-o0utthat led to a short sharp civil war" (TIME 3/25 (Ogden):   Dayan(p95) states that Irgun fire  killed two of his men at KfarVitkin, firing first in response to a demand to surrender; Beginstates that at Kfar Vitkin "Suddenly, we were attacked from allsides, without warning." (p173); he does not report that Irguntroops fired there; and states that at Tel Aviv Irgun troops didnot fire.   In short most, and maybe all, of the the shootingseems to have come from the Haganah.
	Begin's account reads like a lawyer's first draft:  filledwith details and sketched arguments, but not organized in clearchronologic and logical sequence.   Slater's account is brief and smooth, with no pretence to scholarship; I've suggested above thatit might be shown to be tendentious.
