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Killing of Yacov Barsimantov

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Not to be confused with Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, Israeli scholar of international relations (1946–2013).
Assassination of Yaacov Bar-Simantov
Location17 Avenue Ferdinand Buisson, Paris, France
Date31 March 1982 (1982-03-31)
12:50 PM
TargetYaacov Bar-Simantov
Attack type
Assassination
Weapons7.65 mm semiautomatic pistol
Deaths1 (Yaacov Bar-Simantov)
PerpetratorsLebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions
AccusedGeorges Ibrahim Abdallah

On March 31, 1982, Yaacov Bar-Simantov, who was the second secretary of Israel's embassy in France, was shot dead in Paris by an unknown female assailant.[1][2][3]

Barsimantov was responsible for liaison with the French National Assembly and Senate and other political organizations.[1]

At 12:50 P.M, a young woman wearing a white beret approached the diplomat, who was accompanied by his wife and 8-year-old daughter, and shot him in the head three times with a 7.65 millimeter semiautomatic pistol in the lobby of their apartment building at 17 Avenue Ferdinand Buisson in the affluent 16th district near the Bois de Boulogne. His 17-year-old son, who heard the shots but did not witness the murder, chased the woman, who was able to flee into the Paris Metro. The diplomat was announced dead about two hours after the shooting. The Israeli Embassy stated that no particular security arrangements had been in effect for the diplomat, who had been residing in Paris for a little over two years on his first foreign assignment. The shooting came three days after his office had been sprayed with machine-gun fire.[1]

Responsibility for the murder was claimed by a group called the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions. Israel accused the PLO of being involved and considered the murder a violation of the terms of the July 1981 ceasefire arranged by the United States after fighting in Lebanon. The PLO insisted that the cease-fire covered only actions taking place in Lebanon.[1][4]

Imprisonment of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

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Main article: Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

Georges Abdallah, a Lebanese national, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for the 1982 murder of Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Ray, an assistant US military attaché and murder of Bar-Simantov, as well as involvement in the attempted assassination of former American consul in Strasbourg Robert O. Homme, on 26 March 1984. [5][6]

Abdallah was to be released by French judiciary authorities in 2013. A parole board had agreed to release Abdallah, 61, on condition that he would be expelled from France immediately.[7] The French government did not follow on, preventing the parole.

In December 2013, the city council of Bagnolet declared Abdallah an "honorary resident," describing him as a "political prisoner" and "defender of the Palestinian just cause," without mentioning his involvement in the murders.[8] In July 2014, the administrative court in Montreuil revoked this decision.[9]

Abdallah is currently incarcerated in Lannemezan jail.[10] On 15 November 2024, a French court ordered to release him on 6 December on the condition that he would leave France. Prosecutors said that they would appeal against the order.[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Ap (1982-04-04). "ISRAELI DIPLOMAT SHOT AND KILLED IN PARIS". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  2. ^ "Major Attacks on Israeli Targets". Los Angeles Times. 1992-03-19. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  3. ^ "List of Israeli Diplomats Killed Abroad With AM-Diplomat Killed". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  4. ^ "1982". The Jewish Agency. 2007-11-12. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  5. ^ West, Nigel (15 August 2017). Encyclopedia of Political Assassinations. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 219. ISBN 978-1-538-10239-8.
  6. ^ France24: Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, terroriste sans pardon (in French)
  7. ^ "France paroling Lebanese man involved in murders of Israeli, American". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2013-01-11. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  8. ^ French locality honors killer of U.S., Israeli diplomats, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 13, 2013.
  9. ^ Le terroriste Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, citoyen d'honneur de Bagnolet: la fin d'un scandale par Jonathan Aleksandrowicz, Actualité juive (AJ), July 7, 2014.
  10. ^ https://www.ladepeche.fr/2021/10/23/lannemezan-500-manifestants-pour-la-liberation-de-georges-abdallah-9886697.php. Archived 2021-11-17 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "French court orders release of Lebanese militant held since 1984". Agence France Presse. 15 November 2024. Retrieved 15 November 2024 – via Al-Monitor.
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