Israel is not heading for civil war

The rediscovery of the Altalena has revived an old Israeli fault line, but beneath it lies a broad consensus on Jewish supremacy, occupation and military force.Published On 27 Aug 202627 Aug 2026On August 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood outside the Etzel Museum on Tel Aviv’s seafront after the wreck of the Altalena was discovered. The ship, which belonged to the right-wing Zionist paramilitary organisation Etzel, was shelled by the newly formed Israeli military in 1948. Netanyahu promised to raise it from the seabed and turn it into a symbol for future generations, centred on the message: “Civil war, never again.”Etzel, better known in English as Irgun, promoted a highly nationalistic vision of Jewish political life and advocated Jewish military supremacy. It had operated as an independent armed organisation before Israel’s establishment and resisted surrendering its weapons and autonomy to the new state. In June 1948, as it was being absorbed into the newly formed Israeli military, the Altalena arrived carrying more than 900 immigrants, medical supplies and a large shipment of weapons. Irgun and the government could not agree on control of the arms, and the dis...