Altalena was a ship purchased in the summer of 1947 by the Irgun – the Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. The ship sailed to Israel in June 1948, carrying about 940 immigrants, large military equipment and medical equipment. The ship reached the shores of Israel during the War of Independence, about five weeks after the establishment of the State of Israel and three weeks after the Irgun agreed to disarm and to integrate into the IDF. Ben Gurion demanded that the Irgun leadership give up weapons and ammunition from the ship to the Israel Defense Forces. Menachem Begin demanded that 20% of the guns remained in the hands of Irgun. After the immigrants went ashore in the area of Kfar Vitkin (north of Netanya), the disagreement between Irgun and the Israel Defense Forces reached an armed clash. People died, and the country stood on the threshold of a fratricidal war. Altalena left the shores of Kfar Vitkin and set off towards Tel Aviv. After unsuccessful attempts at a peaceful resolution of the conflict on the beaches of Tel Aviv, on the orders of Ben Gurion, the guns fired at Altalena, the ship caught fire and ran aground. During the shortest civil war in history, 16 members of the Irgun, three soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, were killed. Dozens were injured. Events lasted two days. Later about 200 Irgun members were arrested. Irgun was disbanded, and his soldiers were recruited into the army of defense of Israel. To this day, the controversy surrounding this story has not abated. One thing is clear to all: the young country was on the verge of a fratricidal war, and, fortunately, this did not happen.