Altalena, articles and analysis from the Francophone Betar media platform

There is a story that we do not teach enough: that of the time when praying proudly in front of the Kotel was an act of armed resistance. In the 1930s, under the British Mandate, the colonial power capitulated to Arab riots by imposing humiliating restrictions on Jews in front of the Western Wall. It was forbidden to sound the Shofar there, under penalty of immediate arrest. For the official Jewish leadership of the time, it was necessary to bow down and obey. For Betar, it was intolerable. In 1937, Jabotinsky validated the creation of Plugot HaKotel. These young activists set up shop in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem with a clear objective: to restore the “muscle Jew”. They ensure the safety of the faithful against stone throwing and, each year, in defiance of the danger, they break the British ban by sounding the Shofar at the exact minute Yom Kippur ends. These teenagers knew they were going to be arrested, beaten and imprisoned in the Acre fortress. They did it anyway, year after year. Tel Hai 🕎 ------------ Altalena — the voice of Betar 🕎 Altalena is the media of Betar de France: news of the movement, history, Zionism and much more! 📜🇮🇱 Subscribe so you don't miss anything! 🔥 #betar #israel #jerusalem #history #judaism

24/06/2026

Why is our media called Altalena? Behind this name hides one of the darkest, most hidden, but also most foundational episodes in the modern history of Israel. The Altalena — named in homage to the pen name of Ze'ev Jabotinsky — was a ship chartered by the Irgun. On June 22, 1948, in the middle of the War of Independence, it transported 941 fighters and a colossal military arsenal (5,000 rifles, millions of munitions, armored vehicles) intended to reinforce the front lines and break the siege of Jerusalem. But for Ben-Gurion's government, the presence of an armed revisionist force was intolerable. Rather than using these weapons against the Arab armies, the command ordered the ship to be bombed facing the beaches of Tel Aviv. Under fire from the artillery cannon, the boat burst into flames. This is where our heritage was written. While his men were being targeted and blood was being shed, Menachem Begin refused to give the order to retaliate. Atop the burning ship, he shouted, “No civil war, at any cost!” ". Begin sacrificed his weapons, his soldiers and his military triumph to preserve the unity of the Jewish people at a time when their survival was at stake. Recalling the history of Altalena is not just commemorating a tragedy. It is to affirm our doctrine: the visceral refusal of internal discord, the demand for historical truth and the absolute imperative of military power to defend every parcel of our land. We bear this name so that the sacrifice of the 16 Irgun martyrs will never be erased by official history. May their memory be a blessing. Tel Hai 🕎 ------------ Altalena — the voice of Betar 🕎 Altalena is the media of Betar de France: news of the movement, history, Zionism and much more! 📜🇮🇱 Subscribe so you don't miss anything! 🔥 #betar #altalena #israel #history #Judaism

22/06/2026

#BREAKING | The IDF has detected Iranian missile fire towards northern Israel. The defense systems are operational. The regime must fall. Tel Hai 🕎 ------------ Altalena — the voice of Betar 🕎 Altalena is the media of Betar de France: news of the movement, history, Zionism and much more! 📜🇮🇱 Subscribe so you don't miss anything! 🔥 #israel #iran #IDF #Zionism

07/06/2026

We constantly hear this biased historical refrain: “Before 1948 and the arrival of Zionism, Jews lived in peace and perfect security in the Arab world. » The facts formally deny this rewriting of history. On June 1, 1941, in Baghdad, Farhoud broke out. Taking advantage of the political vacuum, an Iraqi crowd indoctrinated by the Nazi propaganda of Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Gillani and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (Amin al-Husseini) rushed on the local Jewish community, although it had been established there since the exile from Babylon, i.e. 2,600 years of history. The results of these two days of waves of riots, committed on the very day of the Shavuot holiday, are appalling: hundreds of deaths, thousands of injured, rapes, infants thrown into the Tigris, and more than 900 Jewish homes looted before the eyes of complicit police. This massacre occurred seven years before the creation of the State of Israel. It proves indisputably that anti-Jewish hatred in the region is not a product of the current Arab-Israeli conflict, but a pre-existing reality. It was the Farhoud that pushed the Jewish youth of Iraq to arm themselves clandestinely, before fleeing en masse to the only land capable of guaranteeing their security: Israel. History teaches us that only national sovereignty and defensive strength protect our people.

01/06/2026