Businessman Noam Lanir Reveals Family Ties to Historic Altalena Ship Bombing

Noam Lanir, an Israeli businessman and philanthropist, shared a personal family story upon learning that the wreckage of the Altalena ship was discovered 503 meters off Israel's coast. Lanir's father, Lieutenant Colonel Avi Lanir, who later commanded Squadron 101 and died in Syrian captivity during the Yom Kippur War, was only eight years old in June 1948 when he witnessed the dramatic bombing of the Altalena near Tel Aviv's shore.

The Altalena, commanded by Lanir's great-uncle Eliyahu Lankin, a Jerusalem Etzel commander, was a weapons ship that was bombed and sunk shortly after arriving in Israel. Despite the chaos, some Israeli Air Force pilots, all from Squadron 101, refused orders to attack the ship. Eliyahu Lankin, who could not swim, was the last to jump from the burning ship, carried ashore by Captain Monroe Fine. Afterward, Lankin and the ship's captain were arrested by IDF soldiers and detained in Shaeta prison alongside other Etzel commanders.

Following mediation by Isser Harel, Lankin was released, joined the first IDF officers' course, and later served as a Knesset member for the Herut movement. Lanir highlighted the historical irony that his family embodies the deep Israeli societal divisions, as his mother comes from a Haganah-affiliated family, and her uncle Aryeh Polonsky was killed by Etzel members in 1939. Lanir concluded his post with a hope for better days, reflecting on the enduring legacy of the Altalena affair in Israeli history.