Shlomo Argov

Shlomo Argov (December 14, 1929 - February 23, 2003) was a prominent Israeli diplomat. He was the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom whose attempted assassination served as a cause célèbre, leading to the 1982 Lebanon War.

Life up to 1982

Argov was born in Jerusalem in 1929 into a family that had lived in the city for seven generations. He joined the Palmach as a teenager, and joined the Israeli Defense Force when it was formed in 1948. Argov was wounded in the Battle of Safed during the Israeli War of Independence, but continued in the military.

In 1950, he moved to Washington D.C. to study for a BA in foreign relations at Georgetown University, from which he graduated in 1952. He followed that up with an MA in international relations at the London School of Economics in 1955.

His diplomatic career began in 1959. Argov served in a variety of positions, in Ghana, Nigeria, Washington (under then-ambassador Yitzhak Rabin), and New York, in addition to those in Jerusalem.

His first senior diplomatic posting came in 1971, when Argov became Israel's Ambassador to Mexico, where he would remain until 1974. After a stint as Deputy Director General of Information at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Argov was appointed Ambassador to the Netherlands in 1977. He would serve in that role for two years, before being promoted to Ambassador to the United Kingdom, one of the highest roles in the Israeli foreign service, in 1979.

Attempted Assassination

On June 3, 1982, three men, Hussein Ghassan Said, Marwan al-Banna, and Nawaf al-Rosan [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,902219,00.html] approached Argov as he got into his car after a banquet at the Dorchester Hotel, in Park Lane, London. Said shot Argov in the head. Though not killed, he remained in a coma for three months. The events left him permanently paralysed and in need of constant medical assistance, which he received at the Hadassah Hospital, in Jerusalem.

The attempted assassins were members of Abu Nidal's organization. Al-Banna was Abu Nidal's cousin, Said a Jordanian and the third of Argov's would-be assassins, Al-Rosan, was a Baghdad intelligence colonel. The gunman, Said, was shot by the bodyguard and also sustained serious head injuries and, like Argov, survived. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/3/newsid_2496000/2496109.stm] . The two uninjured assassins fled the scene but were arrested shortly afterwards in a London flat. It appeared that they were next planning to kill Nabil Ramlawi, the PLO representative in London [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,902219,00.html] .

The attackers were convicted and the sentences ranged between 30 and 35 years. Subsequently two became mentally ill and were transferred to high secure hospitals in the UK [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200203/ldhansrd/vo030313/text/30313w01.htm] . There was speculation in Israel that the British security services were aware of the plot [http://www.meib.org/issues/9906.htm#b12] ; Lord Alton of Liverpool failed to draw the government into making comment when he raised the issue in the House of Lords. [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199899/ldhansrd/vo990708/text/90708w01.htm#90708w01_sbhd3] The attempt on Argov's life was the catalyst for the 1982 Lebanon War, which started on June 6, and led to the expulsion of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Lebanon. In 2003, at the age of 73, Argov succumbed to the wounds inflicted by the would-be assassins.

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/819200.stm Lebanon: A chronology of key events]
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2003/2/Shlomo%20Argov Israeli government's page on Argov]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,902219,00.html Shlomo Argov: Israeli diplomat whose shooting triggered the invasion of Lebanon ]