1981 in Israel
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1981 in Israel
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Events in the year 1981 in Israel.
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Contents
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Incumbents
- Prime Minister of Israel - Menachem Begin (Likud)
- President of Israel - Yitzhak Navon
- Chief of General Staff - Rafael Eitan
- Government of Israel - 18th Government of Israel until August 5, 19th Government of Israel
Events
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Operation Opera is carried out on June 7, 1981 in which the Israeli Air Force severely damage Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor under construction near Baghdad
- April 28 - For the first time, Israel intervened directly in the war between Syria and Lebanese Christians, as Israeli jets shot down two Syrian helicopters, killing four crewmen. [1]
- June 7 – Operation Opera: Eight Israeli F-16s, escorted by F-15s, severely damage Osirak, an Iraqi nuclear reactor under construction near Baghdad, which Israeli military intelligence maintain was built by the regime of Saddam Hussein for the purpose of plutonium production to further an Iraqi nuclear weapons program.[2] Israeli intelligence also believed that the summer of 1981 would be the last chance to destroy the reactor before it would be loaded with nuclear fuel.
- June 30 – The Likud party led by Menachem Begin wins the 10th Israeli legislative elections.
- July – The 1981 Maccabiah Games are held.
- August 5 – Menachem Begin presents his cabinet for a Knesset "Vote of Confidence". The 19th Government is approved that day and the members are sworn in.
- November 30 – The Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Cooperation was signed by U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon. The MOU lasted only 17 days, and was suspended after Israel announced its annexation of the Golan Heights.[3]
- December 14 – The Knesset approves the "Golan Heights Law" which applies Israel's government and laws to the Golan Heights. The law was condemned internationally[4] and declared null and void by United Nations Security Council Resolution 497.[5][6]
- December 18 – Four days after Isreael annexed the Golan Heights, the U.S. terminated its recently made Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Israel. The MOU was not reinstated until May 17, 1983.[7]
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 1981 include:
Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets
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The most prominent Palestinian Arab terror attacks committed against Israelis during 1981 include:
- August 10 – Palestinian terrorists threw two bombs at an Israeli embassy in Vienna, wounding a 75-year old woman.
- August 29 – 1981 Vienna synagogue attack: Palestinian terrorists killed two people and wounded 30 attending a Bar Mitzvah in Vienna.[8]
Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targets
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The most prominent Israeli military counter-terrorism operations (military campaigns and military operations) carried out against Palestinian militants during 1981 include:
- July 10-24 – The Israeli Defense Forces began a regular bombardment of Palestine Liberation Organization strongholds in Lebanon. The siege escalated after the Palestinian guerillas began shelling Israeli settlements. Until a July 24 ceasefire, 450 Palestinians and Lebanese, and 6 Israelis, died [9]
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- July 17 - Israeli bombing of Beirut: Aircraft from Israel bombed a residential area of West Beirut that housed PLO headquarters. Ten apartment buildings were destroyed, more than 300 people were killed and 800 or more injured. Most were civilians.[10]
- July 24 - American mediator Philip Habib brokered a cease-fire between Israel and the PLO, temporarily halting the Lebanese Civil War.[11]
- August 1 – Abu Daoud, the PLO militant who had overseen the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes was shot five times at close range while sitting in the coffee shop of the Victoria Hotel in Warsaw.[12]
Unknown dates
- The founding of the communal settlement Barkan.
- The founding of the moshav Alonei HaBashan.
- The founding of the moshav Kalanit.
- The Old City of Jerusalem and its walls are designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.
Notable births
- January 27 – Yaniv Katan, Israeli footballer.
- April 8 – Ofer Shechter, Israeli actor, comedian, TV host and model.
- May 17 – Shiri Maimon, Israeli singer, actress and TV host.
- June 9 – Natalie Portman, Israeli-American actress.
- August 8 – Harel Skaat, Israeli singer.
- August 11 – Yoni Bloch, Israeli singer.
Notable deaths
- January 12 – Hamad Abu Rabia (b. 1929), Bedouin Israeli politician, murdered.
- February 11 – Franz Sondheimer (b. 1926), German-born Israeli-British chemist.
- March 25 – Yonatan Ratosh (b. 1908), Russian (Poland)-born Israeli poet and the founder of the Canaanite movement.
- May 8 – Uri Zvi Grinberg (b. 1896), Austro-Hungarian (Galicia)-born Israeli poet and journalist.
- May 20 – Binyamin Arditi (b. 1897), Austrian-born Israeli politician.
- June 14 – Haim Shirman (b. 1904), Russian (Ukraine)-born Israeli scholar of medieval Spanish Jewish poetry.
- June 17 – Yitzhak Zuckerman (b. 1915), Polish-born Israeli. One of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II.
- October 16 – Moshe Dayan (b. 1915), Israeli general and politician.
- December 9 – Franz Ollendorff (b. 1900), German-born Israeli physicist.
Major public holidays
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See also
- 1981 in Israeli film
- 1981 in Israeli television
- 1981 in Israeli music
- 1981 in Israeli sport
- Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981
References
- ^ Mordechai Bar-On, In pursuit of peace: a history of the Israeli peace movement (US Institute of Peace Press, 1996); "2 Syrian 'copters downed by Israel over Lebanon", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 29, 1981, p1
- ^ Grant, Rebecca. "Osirak and Beyond." Air Force Magazine, August 2002. Retrieved: May 16, 2008.
- ^ Robert G. Rabil, Syria, the United States, and the War on Terror in the Middle East (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006) p69
- ^ BBC News. Regions and territories: The Golan Heights.
- ^ United Nations. Security Council Resolutions, 1981.
- ^ Council on Foreign Relations. UN Security Council Resolution 497.
- ^ Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, The Israeli Connection: Who Israel Arms and Why (I.B.Tauris, 1987) p202
- ^ "Around the World - Palestinians Get Life In Austrian Slayings." New York Times. 22 January 1982.
- ^ Cheryl A. Rubenberg, Israel and the American National Interest: A Critical Examination (University of Illinois Press, 1989) p267
- ^ "The Bombing of Beirut", Journal of Palestine Studies (1981) pp218–225;James Ron, Frontiers and Ghettos: State Violence in Serbia and Israel (University of California Press, 2003) p175
- ^ "Lebanese Civil War of 1975-90", Dictionary of Wars (George C. Kohn, ed.) (Infobase Publishing, 2006) p301
- ^ "Suspected Olympic massacre mastermind shot", Montreal Gazette, August 6, 1981, p10 Edward Mickolus, The Terrorist List: A-K (ABC-CLIO, 2009) p159
External links
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