The Altalena ship was located intact on the seafloor 78 years after being sunk following an altercation between the IDF and the Irgun in 1948, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Heritage Ministry announced on Monday.
The Heritage Ministry said the ship was found at a depth of 503 meters, some 20 kilometers off Israel's west coast.
The Altalena arrived in Israel with new immigrants, weapons to fight in the Independence War, and fighters from the Irgun, a paramilitary force that operated before the independence and was absorbed into the IDF.
Although it was technically dissolved after the declaration of independence in June 1948, the Irgun kept operating separately from the IDF until September of that year.
The Altalena Affair started after a disagreement between the then Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and the then Irgun leader Menachem Begin, who were fighting over how to divide the weapons inside the ship.
The discussion ended with the IDF shelling the Altalena, which destroyed the ship and left it heavily damaged and abandoned. During the fighting, 19 people were killed: 16 Irgun fighters and three IDF soldiers.
The ship was then abandoned in Frishman Beach in Tel Aviv, while it was towed 15 miles out and sank in 1949, in an effort to clear the area.
Discovery of Altalena is 'defining moment,' Heritage Minister says
"Tonight we are closing a historical circle on one of the most painful and formative events in the history of Israeli society," Ben-Gvir said.
"We have been dealing with this issue secretly for many years, and today – the fruits of the intelligence and operational effort have borne exciting fruit for the sake of historical truth, the memory of the fallen, and unity with Israel."
"The discovery of the Altalena is a defining moment for our national memory," Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu stated. "We worked on this operation out of a deep-seated mission to reveal the historical truth and make the story of the ship's heroes accessible to future generations."