Shlomo Argov: The Assassination Attempt That Triggered the 1982 Lebanon War

Shlomo Argov was Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom, shot in the head outside the Dorchester Hotel in London on 3 June 1982 by a gunman from the Abu Nidal Organisation. Though he survived, he was left in a permanent coma-like state for the remaining 27 years of his life. Israel's government cited the attack as the immediate trigger for launching Operation Peace for Galilee — the full-scale invasion of Lebanon that began on 6 June 1982 — making Argov's shooting one of the most consequential acts of political violence of the 20th century.

Who Was Shlomo Argov? Life Before the Attack

Born on 14 December 1929 in Jerusalem, then under British Mandatory Palestine, Argov grew up during the turbulent years preceding Israeli independence. He fought in Israel's 1948 War of Independence as a young man and later earned a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a master's degree from the London School of Economics. He joined Israel's Foreign Ministry and rose through a series of distinguished postings, serving as ambassador to Mexico, the Netherlands, and Nigeria before being appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1979. Colleagues described him as a sharp, cultured diplomat with a gift for building relationships across political lines.

What Happened on 3 June 1982? The Shooting in London

On the evening of 3 June 1982, Argov was leaving a dinner at the Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane when gunman Nawaf Rosan shot him in the head at close range. Rosan was apprehended immediately by Argov's bodyguard, Colin Simpson, who wounded the attacker in the exchange. Rosan was a member of the Abu Nidal Organisation, a Palestinian militant group that was actually a bitter rival of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Israel's cabinet — led by Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Defence Minister Ariel Sharon — nonetheless used the attack as a casus belli against the PLO in Lebanon. When told the Abu Nidal Organisation was responsible, Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan reportedly replied, 'They're all PLO.' Three days later, Israeli forces crossed into Lebanon.

What Was the Impact of the Attack on the Lebanon War?

Operation Peace for Galilee, launched on 6 June 1982, quickly expanded far beyond its stated aim of creating a 40-kilometre security buffer. Israeli forces reached Beirut, the Lebanese capital, within days. The war killed an estimated 17,000–20,000 people, mostly Lebanese civilians and Palestinian fighters, and culminated in the Sabra and Shatila massacre of September 1982, in which Lebanese Christian militias — under Israeli watch — killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians. The war lasted until 2000 for Israeli forces in the south and fundamentally reshaped the Middle East, contributing to the rise of Hezbollah. Argov himself remained in a care facility in Jerusalem, partially conscious but unable to communicate meaningfully. He died on 23 February 2003, aged 73, having never recovered.