Declassified docs show Irish soldiers killed in revenge for Israeli abduction
Three troops serving with the UN force in Lebanon were blown up in a roadside bomb, in response to the targeting of a bomb-maker by IDF commandos
Three Irish soldiers killed in Lebanon in 1989 were targeted in revenge for the abduction of a Lebanese bomb-maker by Israeli commandos, newly declassified papers show.
The three soldiers, who were serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) at the time, were blown up in roadside bomb, and a report from the Irish chief of staff at the Department of Defence has now been published.
It said the “most plausible” explanation was that the three soldiers were “deliberately targeted” as an act of revenge by supporters of a known Lebanese explosives expert who had been abducted by the Israelis the previous year.
The master bomb-maker was nabbed from an area patrolled by the Irish, and Corporal Fintan Heneghan, 28, Private Tomas Walsh, 30, and Private Mannix Armstrong, 26, appear to have been killed in response. They were in a truck when it drove over a massive land mine near Braashit in south Lebanon on 21 March 1989.
The incident led to a diplomatic spat between the Israeli and Irish governments. At the time, Israel was financing and training the South Lebanon Army (SLA), whose troops had killed another two Irish soldiers in 1986.
An Irish government minister told an Israeli diplomat that the incident was “bound to have a negative effect” on Israeli-Irish relations. The Israelis later told the Irish that an SLA member had since been jailed and the unit had been removed from the area.
Other Irish government papers released this week show that preparations to open an Israeli embassy in Ireland in the 1980s were shelved in part because Private O’Brien and Corporal McLaughlin had been killed by shells fired from an SLA area.
“Israeli authorities have continued over the years to raise this matter [of the embassy] at most meetings with Irish representatives at political and official level,” a 1989 memo read.
“It has also been raised by representatives of the Jewish community in Ireland and elsewhere, by distinguished political visitors from the US and… by the embassy of the United States.” An Israeli embassy in Ireland finally opened in 1994.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
