The Embassy of Israel in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

is the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is located in the

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

area on Kensington Palace Gardens near the junction with Kensington High Street. The Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

hosts both the Embassy of Israel and the Israeli Consulate, accessible via a separate entrance at 15a Old Court Place.

Location

The embassy is situated at 2 Palace Green, the southern section of Kensington Palace Gardens, which is home to Kensington Palace itself as well as a number of other diplomatic delegations, and forms part of the Crown Estate. Security around the embassy is extremely rigorous, and photography of the building is prohibited.

The building

The embassy occupies a house originally built in 1860–62 for the author

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...

, constructed in red brick at his request. It was granted

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

status in 1969.

Security incidents and assassination attempts

On 19 September 1972, a

letter bomb A letter bomb is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with the intention to injure or kill the recipient when opened. They have been used in terrorist attacks such as those of the Unabomber. Some countries have agenc ...

delivered to the Embassy exploded, killing Ami Shachori, an Israeli diplomat. Seven other bombs claimed to have been sent by the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

group

Black September Black September (), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was an armed conflict between Jordan, led by Hussein of Jordan, King Hussein, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by chairman Yasser Arafat. The main phase of the fight ...

were either not delivered, or detected. On 3 June 1982, Ambassador of Israel Shlomo Argov was shot and seriously injured on departing an event at the Dorchester Hotel where he was guest of honour. A terror cell claiming to have split from the

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...

and headed by

Abu Nidal Sabri Khalil al-Banna (; May 1937 – 16 August 2002), known by his ''Pseudonym, nom de guerre'' Abu Nidal ("father of struggle"),; translates it as "father of the struggle". was a Palestinian fedayeen, Palestinian militant. He was the founde ...

took credit for the attack. After a lengthy coma, Argov died of his wounds in 2003. The incident is widely reported as being a key factor in the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

. On 26 July 1994, a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roug ...

exploded outside the embassy, partially destroying the front of the building and injuring 20 people within and outside the building. The blast damaged shops on nearby Kensington High Street, and blew out windows in Kensington Palace. The attack came a day after the leaders of Israel and

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

had met for peace talks and eight days after the AMIA bombing in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. Thirteen hours after the attack on the embassy another bomb exploded outside a Jewish charity building in north London, injuring six people. Five Palestinians resident in London were arrested in January 1995 in connection with the bombings and two – Jawad Botmeh and Samar Alami – were sentenced to 20 years in jail for their role in the attacks. A series of demonstrations outside the embassy during December 2008 and January 2009, held in protest at Israel's "Cast Lead" operation in Gaza, were marred by violence and ended in a number of arrests and at least one court sentence for those taking part in the violence. On 28 April 2025, an armed man was arrested while trespassing on embassy grounds and charged with preparing acts of terrorism. The Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism division stated that they believed the suspect acted alone.

Renovations and re-dedication

On 15 March 2010, Ambassador of Israel Ron Prosor formally announced the re-dedication of the embassy after an extensive refurbishment programme. As part of the embassy's re-dedication, the original Music Room of the Thackeray house was named in honour of late Ambassador Shlomo Argov.

References

External links

*
Earlier history of the house
from the '' Survey of London'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Embassy of Israel in London 1862 establishments in England