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The wreckage of the Altalena, the arms-carrying Irgun vessel whose destruction during Israel’s War of Independence became one of the most bitter episodes in the fledgling state’s history, has been located deep beneath the Mediterranean Sea off Israel’s coast, government ministers announced Monday.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, both members of Otzma Yehudit, said the vessel remains intact and was discovered at approximately 12:30 a.m. at a depth of 503 meters, or about 1,650 feet, roughly 20 kilometers — 12 miles — offshore “during a complex maritime search operation.”

The ministers attributed the discovery to “long months of meticulous planning and preparation” and the deployment of “special sensors and advanced survey systems.” They said additional information about the operation would be presented at a press conference.

Despite Ben Gvir’s involvement in announcing the discovery, an IDF spokesperson said the military did not participate in the effort to find the Altalena.

Hebrew-language media reported that the search was spearheaded by the Marine Mapping Division of the Survey of Israel, the government body responsible for the country’s mapping and surveying operations.

Hagai Ronen, director-general of the agency, hailed the discovery as a significant intersection of modern technology and Israeli history.

“The locating of the Altalena is an exciting historical moment, in which knowledge, technology and advanced mapping capabilities allow us to touch on a significant chapter in the history of the State of Israel.”

According to Ynet, search teams located the vessel using sonar equipment. Because the wreck lies more than 500 meters beneath the surface and far offshore, however, bringing the entire ship to the surface is believed to be extremely difficult and potentially impossible.

The Heritage Ministry is reportedly examining other ways of commemorating the wreck if it cannot be recovered. Among the possibilities under consideration is placing a floating marker above the location, while efforts are also underway to document the Altalena in its current underwater resting place.

This is not the first time authorities have claimed to have pinpointed the ship. In December 2012, officials announced that the Altalena had been located several miles off Rishon Lezion at a depth of approximately 300 meters. The government said at the time that it hoped to raise the wreck and place it on land in either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem as a memorial.

The Altalena arrived in Israel in June 1948 carrying weapons and ammunition for Menachem Begin’s Irgun forces as the newly established Jewish state was fighting its War of Independence.

Israel and the IDF had been established only weeks earlier, and tensions between Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Begin were already intense. Ben-Gurion demanded that the weapons aboard the Altalena be handed over to the newly created IDF, setting the stage for an armed confrontation.

After reaching the Israeli coast and eventually running aground, the vessel became the center of a tense standoff. Irgun members aboard the ship faced IDF and Palmach troops positioned onshore, and the confrontation ultimately erupted into gunfire. Forces on land, under the command of a young Yitzhak Rabin — who would later become IDF chief of staff and prime minister — were ordered to destroy the vessel, which was struck by artillery and burst into flames.

Sixteen members of the Irgun and three IDF soldiers were killed during the confrontation, while the weapons and other supplies aboard the Altalena were lost.

The episode has long been remembered as one of the moments when the newly established State of Israel came perilously close to an internal civil war. Begin instructed his men not to retaliate against the government forces and later reflected on the decision, saying, “My greatest accomplishment was not retaliating and causing civil war.”

The burned-out remains of the Altalena were subsequently pulled farther offshore and sunk. In the decades since, the confrontation and Ben-Gurion’s decision to fire on the ship have remained deeply controversial, particularly on the Israeli right, where the Altalena became an enduring political and historical symbol.

Kan reported in August 2025 that Eliyahu had allocated NIS 1 million — approximately $335,000 — toward efforts to locate the historic wreck. The funding supported the Israeli marine research vessel Bat-Galim, which carried technology capable of searching for and identifying the ship’s remains.

Following the discovery, Eliyahu described the find as “a defining moment for our national memory.”

Ben Gvir also portrayed the discovery as an important moment in confronting a painful episode from Israel’s earliest days, though his precise role in the search operation was not immediately clear.

“Tonight, we are closing a historic circle on one of the most painful and formative events in the history of Israeli society,” said Ben Gvir, whose role in the operation is unclear. Ben Gvir heads the Otzma Yehudit party, which Eliyahu belongs to.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu disclosed Monday that Iran had attempted to assassinate one of his children, revealing information that Israeli authorities had previously barred from publication.

Speaking in an interview with Channel 14 News, Netanyahu described the alleged Iranian plot while explaining the extraordinary security measures surrounding members of his family.

“There is something here that is unbelievable. Iran targeted one of my children. Iran tried to murder one of my children,” he said.

Pressed on whether his assertion was based on intelligence that had been presented to him, Netanyahu declined to provide further details and instead reiterated the claim.

“Iran tried to assassinate one of my children,” he said.

Netanyahu said the security protection afforded to his children should therefore not be viewed as an unnecessary privilege, arguing that the threat against them is concrete.

“It is something without which this attempt will simply succeed,” he said.

The disclosure comes weeks after the Ministerial Committee for Shin Bet Affairs approved long-term security arrangements for the Netanyahu family. Under the July 16 decision, Netanyahu will receive security protection for the remainder of his life, while his wife, Sara, will remain protected for her husband’s lifetime. Netanyahu’s sons are slated to retain security for five years even if he does not serve another term as prime minister.

Ahead of that decision, the Shin Bet and Mossad reportedly concluded that Netanyahu and members of his family would remain under a high threat level throughout their lives. Israeli security officials have cited concerns that the country’s enemies could seek revenge against Netanyahu and his relatives over the assassinations of senior Iranian officials during the war.

Evidence of Iranian efforts to target senior Israeli officials emerged two years ago with the arrest of Motti Maman, a 73-year-old Ashkelon resident accused of being recruited by Iranian intelligence operatives to participate in assassination plots. Israeli authorities said the potential targets included Netanyahu, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

According to Israeli security officials, Maman was secretly transported into Iran on two occasions and received money in connection with missions he was asked to carry out. Authorities said his involvement stemmed from an effort to obtain “easy money” after falling into debt.

Netanyahu’s revelation came amid separate reports that Iranian state television broadcast a video threatening Barron Trump, the 20-year-old son of President Donald Trump.

The Iranian video, titled “Where and How Barron Trump Should Be Killed,” alleges that Barron’s movements have been “fully monitored” and claims that information has been gathered about the university he attends, vehicles traveling with him and the locations of Secret Service personnel assigned to his protection. The broadcast additionally claimed that a $10 million bounty had been placed on Barron, though that assertion had not been independently confirmed at the time of publication.

The latest threat follows another video released in July by the Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. That publication claimed Iranian operatives had uncovered access routes and vulnerabilities involving Melania Trump’s security arrangements in New York. The New York Post also reported in late May on an alleged plot targeting Ivanka Trump.

Iranian state media have additionally directed threats at President Trump himself. In July, a billboard erected in Tehran’s Islamic Revolution Square depicted Trump apparently lying dead in a coffin and carried the English-language threat, “We will kill Trump.”

{Matzav.com}

Following days of intense backlash from Lakewood, NJ parents and mosdos over a stunning increase in non-mandated busing costs, the price families will be required to pay has now been reduced, with the additional charge cut from $560 to $290 per child.

The revised fee means parents will pay a total of $675 per child for non-mandated transportation for the 2026-27 school year rather than the $945 announced by the Lakewood Student Transportation Authority last week.

The turnaround comes after the original increase sparked an uproar across the Lakewood region, with families protesting the sudden financial burden and mosdos taking the extraordinary step of recommending that parents not opt into the program at the $945 rate.

Under the original plan announced last week, the annual cost of non-mandated transportation was set to soar from $385 to $945 per child, leaving families who had already paid the initial $385 with another $560 bill for each affected child.

For a family with four children requiring non-mandated busing, the original increase would have meant an additional $2,240 this year alone, bringing the family’s total transportation bill to $3,780.

The announcement immediately generated widespread anger in a community already grappling with tuition, inflation and rapidly rising household expenses.

The controversy escalated further when the Igud Hamosdos advised Lakewood schools that parents should not, at that point, opt into non-mandated transportation at the newly announced $945 rate.

The position was that the dramatically higher transportation expense should not simply be transferred to parents, and that government funding should instead be found to cover the shortfall.

That recommendation raised the possibility of a major transportation crisis just as the new school year is getting underway. If large numbers of parents refused to enroll their children, LSTA routes could potentially be consolidated or eliminated, leaving families scrambling for transportation and adding countless vehicles to Lakewood’s already heavily congested roads.

Now, following meetings involving representatives of LSTA, local and state government officials and askanim, a portion of the increase has been eliminated.

In a message sent to parents Monday, YSA announced the breakthrough.

“We are pleased to report that we met with representatives of the LSTA, our local and state government officials, and askanim. To ensure bussing for our Kehila starts on time, we were able to reduce the additional non-mandated bussing fee to $290. At this point, we recommend that parents opt in for transportation. Please note that the fee is due now.”

The message continued: “Together, Bezras Hashem we will continue working with the many stakeholders involved to explore possible solutions for bussing. We will continue to keep you updated throughout the year. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.”

The revised arrangement represents a reduction from what parents were facing just days ago. Instead of paying an additional $560 above the original $385 charge, families will now be asked to pay another $290, bringing the total annual cost to $675. In other words, the increase itself has been cut nearly in half — from $560 to $290.

For a family with four affected children, the additional expense drops from $2,240 under the $945 rate to $1,160 under the new $675 rate — a savings of $1,080 compared with what the family was facing under the original announcement.

But many parents are still not satisfied, feeling that this whole thing is still a racket, forcing them to pay more into a system that seems to forever be asking for more.

So, while the latest agreement appears to have defused the immediate threat of widespread opt-outs and a potential transportation breakdown, major questions remain unanswered.

Most notably, it remains unclear how the approximately $270-per-child gap between the $945 LSTA said was necessary and the newly established $675 parent charge will be covered.

The Township, which is itself facing significant budget pressures, is still not contributing funds to cover the shortfall, according to those involved in the discussions.

That leaves open the obvious question of where the money is coming from and whether the arrangement reducing the parent contribution is sustainable for the remainder of the year and beyond.

The underlying financial problem facing Lakewood’s non-mandated transportation system has therefore not disappeared simply because the immediate fee has been reduced.