Altalena memorial (Tel Aviv promenade)

One of the most important moments in early Israeli history happened here. In 1948, David Ben Gurion ordered an attack on the Altalena ship, which was carrying arms for the splinter Irgun militia. Irgun leader Menachem Begin commanded his troops not to defend themselves, believing that nothing could be worse for the new state than a civil war. There is a small memorial here to the 16 Irgun fighters who were killed in the incident.