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June 16, 1948-North of Netanya, Israel.

General Moshe Dayan watched as gunfire swept over the Altalena, an Irgun ship trying illegally to land arms on the coast of the brand new State of Israel.
   "Figures the Irgun to screw us over right when we get a truce with the Arabs," Dayan growled. He was already wondering who the real enemy was.
A sudden roar of a cannon engulfed the entire scene. Dayan, as well as the soldiers around him, quickly hit the dirt. When the general looked up again, flames were quickly sweeping over the boat.

   "Where the hell is Begin!" shouted Yaakov Blaustein over the roar of a cannon and constant gunfire.
   "Don't know, sir," David Greenbaum shouted back from the stairs leading below deck.
Blaustein, an extremely radical Irgunist, was very protective of Menachem Begin, his commander. "Find him, dammit! Get him the hell off this ship!"
A cry from below. "Check that out, Greenbaum! Hurry!" Greenbaum rushed down the stairs to find Menachem Begin himself lying on the ground, blood flowing from a wound to the chest. Blaustein was two steps behind.
   "God almighty," he muttered. The hold was burning. He flung Begin's body over his shoulder and dashed up the stairs.
On deck was total pandemonium. Irgun soldiers were leaping off the deck and into the safety of the water. Suddenly, an explosion ripped through the deck, sending dozens of men flying. Blaustein was thrown up and down, landing hard on his back. He gingerly put his hand to his head. It came away red. Greenbaum was a few feet away, groaning and clutching at his stomach.
  "Where's Begin!" Blaustein shouted. He saw him lying face down near the edge. Blaustein dashed over and rolled over the body of his commander. He prayed to a God he thought no longer existed after living through the horrors of Dachau for Begin's life. His prayer was unanswered, for he found no pulse.
Blaustein stood up and saluted the body of his commander. He then jumped off of the deck, just as another explosion ripped through the ship from below.

   "General Dayan! General Dayan!" A messenger came running up to the commander.
   "Yes, Corporal." "We just picked up a few of the survivors. One was a man named Yaakov Blaustein." Dayan shrugged. "So? What does that have to do with anything?"
   "Sir, he claims that Menachem Begin is dead."

Press Release for the Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1948.

  Unconfirmed reports from Netanya, Israel have claimed that the leader of the right-wing Irgun Zvae Leumi, the chief opposition within Israel to the Provisional Government of David Ben-Gurion, was killed in the fight over the arms ship Altalena. The gunrunning ship was fired upon by government forces and sunk. Menachem Begin was apparently killed by shellfire in the ship's last moments. . .