Current sectionIsrael NewsIsrael Political NewsThe ship, carrying arms for a right-wing militia, was sunk 78 years ago on the orders of Israel's founders off Tel Aviv. A longtime symbol of the Israeli right, one maritime expert tells Haaretz of the perils of the 'extraordinarily complex and costly' salvage operationShare to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribe08:22 PM • August 24 2026 IDTThe process of raising the Altalena, located overnight nearly eight decades after it was sunk off the coast of Tel Aviv in the Mediterranean Sea, would be extremely expensive, highly complex and effectively impossible with the means currently available in Israel, a maritime archaeology expert told Haaretz.In the NewsBen-Gurion Airport Train Station Halted After Balloon Damages Electrical CableNetherlands to Boycott Eurovision for Second Year Over Israel's ParticipationCan Israel Resurrect the Right Wing's Founding Grievance From the Deep Sea?'NAZA,' Film About Israel's Actions in Gaza, to Premiere at Venice Film FestivalPakistan's Army Chief Set to Meet People Close to Khamenei During Tehran VisitRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIIDF Marks Detained Palestinians With Numbers as Northern West Bank Raids ExpandAn Israeli Startup Is Reinventing Salmon Farming. It May Upend a Global IndustryThe American Jewish Establishment Is Defending an Israel That No Longer ExistsDavid Remnick on Netanyahu, Mamdani and Israel's 'Failure to Face' GazaGermany Found Its Israeli Villain. Will It Continue to Ignore What Produced Him?AIPAC's Last-minute Spending Spree Fails to Block California Progressive