To the Editor:

Rabbi Meir Y. Soloveichik justifiably praises Menachem Begin for his refusal to permit Irgun fighters to respond to targeted gunfire from Israeli soldiers during the disastrous Altalena confrontation (“The Moment That Made Israel a Nation,” April). While noting that “a firefight did break out,” he avoids assigning responsibility to the man who ordered it: Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. Dismissing the Irgun as “a gang of terrorists” who “usurped” state power by landing the Altalena (with his prior consent), Ben-Gurion was determined to stifle political opposition and (as Palmach commander Yigal Allon recounted) to “get Begin.” That precipitated the tragedy of the Altalena confrontation, which cost the lives of 16 Irgun fighters devoted to the fledgling State of Israel.

Jerold S. Auerbach
Newton, Massachusetts

To the Editor:

Meir Y. Soloveichik’s column about the Altalena resonated with me. Begin’s naiveté regarding Ben-Gurion is of less moment than his avoidance of killing Jews. Nor does the tale of Moses slaying 3,000 Jews refute that principle, since that exception regarded idolatry. Nevertheless, there is something of even greater import about Begin’s naiveté, namely his support of the Camp David Accords. Israel’s interest in the pretense of peace through negotiations can spell her doom. Yet Jews have repeatedly denied their enemy’s commitment to the destruction of Israel. And this denial has repeatedly been a detriment to the well-being of the Jewish state. Until Israelis acknowledge that the issue has never been peace but survival, all else falls to the wayside.

Allen Weingarten
Monroe Township, New Jersey

To the Editor:

Meir Y. Soloveichik’s article brought tears to my eyes. I was reminded of how happy I was when Menachem Begin became the prime minister of the state he loved so much. He had deserved more recognition from David Ben-Gurion. But the Israeli people showed how they felt by electing him.

Murray Rubin
Toronto, Canada