28 April – For the first time,Israel intervened directly in the war betweenSyria and Lebanese Christians, as Israeli jets shot down two Syrian helicopters, killing four crewmen.[2] Israeli warplanes also bombed Syrian positions onMount Sannine. Israel claimed that it was taking action to "spread a protective umbrella" over the Lebanese Christian militias.[3] Additionally, Reagan sends ambassadorPhilip Habib to the Middle East to convince the Syrians to withdraw missiles.[4]
19 June - In addition to demanding that Israel sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and subject its own nuclear program to IAEA safeguards, the UN Security Council denounces Operation Opera as a breach of the UN charter and says that Iraq should receive compensation.[6]
June - Operation Opera denounced by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
10 July - The PLO starts launching 130 mm artillery shells and Katyusha rockets at Israel's northern region. Although the Israeli Air Force (IAF) responded with airstrikes, these attacks were not ultimately stopped.[7]
17 July - The IAF carries out a massive raid on PLO buildings. The terrorist group increases the intensity of its attacks on northern communities, forcing thousands of Israelis to relocate south or spend several days in shelters.
24 July - US ambassador Philip Habib mediates a ceasefire between the two camps to stop the violence from getting worse.
5 August –Menachem Begin presents his cabinet for aKnesset "Vote of Confidence". The19th Government is approved that day, and the members are sworn in.
September - The IAEA Conference suspends all technical assistance to Israel and denounces the strike as well.
30 November – The Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Cooperation was signed by U.S. Secretary of DefenseCaspar Weinberger and Israeli Defense MinisterAriel Sharon. The MOU lasted only 17 days and was suspended after Israel announced its annexation of theGolan Heights.[8]
November - The UN General Assembly denounced Israel for a deliberate act of aggression in Operation Opera.
18 December – Four days after Israel annexed the Golan Heights, the U.S. terminated its recently made Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Israel. The MOU was not reinstated until 17 May 1983.[12]
March - A terrorist infiltrating fromLebanon using a motorized hang glider manages to reachHaifa and drop some bombs over the city's bay but is arrested after his glider's motor runs out of fuel and is forced to land.[13]
10 August – Palestinian terrorists threw two bombs at an Israeli embassy inVienna, wounding a 75-year-old woman.
10–24 July – TheIsraeli Defense Forces began a regular bombardment ofPalestine Liberation Organization strongholds inLebanon. The siege escalated after the Palestinian guerillas began shelling Israeli settlements. Until a 24 July ceasefire, 450 Palestinians and Lebanese, and 6 Israelis, died[15]
17 July –Israeli bombing of Beirut: Aircraft from Israel bombed a residential area of WestBeirut that housed PLO headquarters. Ten apartment buildings were destroyed, more than 300 people were killed, and 800 or more injured. Most were civilians.[16]
^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, 29 April 1981, p1
^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
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