The first truce in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War had also begun on June 11 and when the Irgun leaders in Israel learned through the Radio London broadcast of the embarkation of the vessel, they feared that this breach of the truce conditions (i.e., the ban on bringing military equipment and fighters into the country) would be revealed (though in the end, these aspects of the truce were ignored by both sides). Menachem Begin decided therefore to postpone the arrival of the ship, and the Irgun staff secretary, Zippora Levi-Kessel, sent a wireless message to the "Altalena" to stay put and await orders. A similar cable was sent to Shmuel Katz (member of the General Headquarters), who was then in Paris, but the ship had already left the day before the message arrived.