The Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum

The Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum, which is in the city of Haifa, is dedicated to the marine military history of Israel. The Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum has two wings: the Clandestine Immigration wing which deals with the operations of clandestine immigration into Israel, and the Navy wing dedicated to the history of the Israeli Navy from its foundation and until today. Clandestine immigration, or Ha’apalah, refers to the illegal immigration into the Land of Israel that the Jewish settlement organized at the time of the British Mandate in this country from 1934 and until the foundation of the State of Israel. This immigration was conducted alongside the legal one which took place at the time according to the immigration rules that the British have set. The Clandestine Immigration wing presents historic documents, newspaper articles, photographs and models which tell the story of the clandestine immigration. There is an audio-visual display offered inside the ship named "Af-Al-Pi-Chen" (Nevertheless) that sailed in 1947 and was intercepted by a British battleship that had its passengers deported to Cyprus. One can also find at the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum a unique computerized map of the routs of the immigration ships. In the Navy wing, dedicated to the history of the Israeli Navy from its foundation, one can find photographs, certificates, battle plans, ships’ models, original exhibits, weapons and marine battle means. The new generation of the Navy’s ships is represented by the missile boat INS Mivtach and the submarine INS Gal which are presented at the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum and are open to the public. The Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum belongs to the Museums Unit of the Israeli Ministry of Defense.