This year was a big one for Israel and the Middle East region. Encompassing everything from the explosive growth of the Islamic State to the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, 2015 saw a lot of changes for the little Jewish state. As the year draws to a close, Breaking Israel News takes a look back through its archives to find the biggest Israel stories and trends of 2015.
1. ISIS Blows Up
While the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria, or ISIS (or IS, or ISIL), officially proclaimed its worldwide
caliphate in 2014, it took some months for the little terrorist state to
develop into a news story that made the world sit up and pay attention.
Through its savvy grasp of social media and the horrifically
sensational stream of beheading videos it released periodically, ISIS shot to prominence in 2015.
This year saw the decimation of the
Yazidi population and the development of a roaring trade in sex slaves.
Women and children captured as ISIS raged through Iraq and Syria were sold into slavery
to ISIS fighters and Arab sheiks in an official revival of ancient
slavery practices condoned and, in fact, encouraged by Islamic law.
ISIS’s slave trade became an institution this year, complete with laws, regulations, records, pricing lists, and bills of sale.
The militant organization ended the year with a bang, releasing videos threatening Israel directly. It also claimed that it would take over the Vatican and warned that it was coming for other Western countries as well, including the US. And it wasn’t an empty threat – ISIS-affiliated terror groups carried out attacks all over the world in 2015, killing 127 people in a horrific large-scale massacre in Paris.
ISIS has made no secret of its plans for world domination and its vision of a global caliphate, and despite good intentions, a US-led coalition
sending airstrikes against ISIS strongholds has done little to stop the
sprawl. Whether 2016 holds an escalation or resolution of the conflict
with the Islamic State, ISIS is likely to figure large.
2. Iran: It’s a Deal
The notorious Iran nuclear deal
was signed and sealed in 2015. Considered a triumph for world peace by
some (Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Obama) and a colossal mistake of historic proportions by others (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, many rabbis, pro-Israel Christian groups and, in fact, most supporters of Israel),
the deal set out conditions for dismantling Iran’s nuclear program
which, if met, would be rewarded by a lifting of economic sanctions on
the country.
It took months of haggling as the US
compromised more and more of its “red lines” and Iran demanded more and
more leeway, but eventually the P1+5 committee came to an agreement.
Obama faced harsh opposition in the Senate, and Netanyahu worked hard stop the deal from passing, warning that the deal made too many concessions to Iran – including allowing it to inspect its own nuclear facilities
– and wouldn’t put into place any significant obstacles stopping Iran
from going nuclear. Not only that, it would channel billions of dollars
in trade to the country, providing potential funding for Iran’s
terrorist activities.
However, despite the many objections to the deal, including direct appeals from Arab Gulf states to Obama stop the deal, and despite Iran’s blatant and brazen threats against the US even in the midst of negotiations and its almost immediate violations of the agreement’s terms, the deal passed, and was hailed as a “victory” by the Obama Administration.
It has already gone into effect, with Iran shipping out 25,000 tons of its enriched uranium in anticipation of “Implementation Day”,
when sanctions will be officially lifted, expected to take place in
January. Kerry and Obama have celebrated the deal, calling the
diplomatic agreement “truly one of our most important accomplishments of
2015.”
Israel’s strong lobbying against the
deal, and Obama’s determination to push it through, have caused serious
fractures in relations between the two countries, increasing tensions
which were already on the rise . . . as we will see below.
3. Whose Temple Mount?
The Temple Mount burst into the
public eye this year as Jews began, for the first time in decades, to
assert their legal and spiritual right to ascend to the most holy place
in Judaism in larger numbers and, in response, Arabs asserted their
right to riot, throw firebombs, verbally and physically assault visitors, and nearly burn down their own mosque.
The Arabs were concerned that Israel
was secretly planning to change the status quo on the Temple Mount. That
status quo, put into effect in 1976, allows – technically – all
visitors to ascend to the site (at the whim and mercy of those in charge) but it forbids non-Muslims from praying there.
Temple Mount rights activists like Rabbi Yehudah Glick pointed out that the Israeli Supreme Court has upheld freedom of prayer,
even on the Temple Mount, multiple times, but the Israel Police who are
in charge of security at the site, which is controlled by a Muslim
Waqf, violate the law daily by refusing to allow Jews or any non-Muslims to pray – largely because they are afraid of provoking the Arabs.
As advocacy groups for the Temple
Mount fought to make progress towards their goal of freedom of worship
on the Temple Mount for all people of faith – which they did, a little – violence rose to a pitch on the Temple Mount. Any Jew or Christian who showed any sign of communing with a higher presence while in the vicinity of the Temple Mount was promptly banished from the site. After a summer of escalating
violence, something happened to draw attention away from the Temple
Mount – a terror wave which hit the entire country.
It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment the ongoing wave of terror
in Israel began. The series of constant, almost daily terror attacks,
perpetrated by dozens of individual terrorists throughout the country,
began after the October 1 shooting and killing of Nechama and Eitam Henkin
as they drove with their four sons past a Palestinian village. The
murder of the couple and the orphaning of their children seemed to
unleash a reserve of pent-up violence in the Palestinian population just
as it revved up Israelis to stand strong against the tidal wave of terror.
However, according to some, the story actually begins in August, when a group of Jewish extremists are suspected of firebombing a home in the Arab village of Duma. The attack killed three: a mother, a father, and a toddler. One of the Henkin’s killers later told investigators that he had shot the Jewish family in revenge for Duma.
Once the wave of terror gained steam, it quickly picked up momentum, urged forward by blatant incitement from Arab political and religious leaders and Palestinian social media campaigns encouraging attacks against Jews.
The Israeli population become used to daily reports of stabbings, car rammings, and shootings from the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to the back roads of Judea and Samaria.
Dozens of individual terrorists, almost all under the age of 30 and
ostensibly acting alone, ran to attack Jews and Israelis with dreams of
martyrdom in their hearts.
Many got their wish. Israeli security forces – and civilians, most of whom have served in the IDF – did not hesitate to defend themselves
and the people they were sworn to protect. The world didn’t see it that
way, and almost instantly, left-wing groups, world media, and the UN
began to condemn Israel for “excessive force” against the violent individuals who were charging Israelis with sharp knives, ramming them with cars and shooting them on their way to work.
2015 was a rocky year for international relations between Israel and the US. While many American citizens are incredibly supportive of Israel, those in charge were less so. Obama and his administration did not go to great lengths to hide their personal dislike of Benjamin Netanyahu – or his politics. The tension between the two leaders was palpable when Netanyahu appeared before Congress to argue against the Iran deal without notifying Obama first.
One bump came in June when the US Supreme Court backed up Obama’s decision not to acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
when it ruled that “Jerusalem, Israel” was not a valid birthplace in
passport listings. Ongoing tension over Obama and Kerry’s emphasis of
the two-state solution and condemnation of Israel’s settlement
communities led to another snafu after Kerry blamed the wave of terror on Palestinian frustration over the increase in building in Judea and Samaria.
At the same time, the two countries
strove to make clear that they would always be allies. The US promised
that if Iran should attack Israel, America would protect it. The US Army and IDF continued to collaborate on developing defense technology and joint training exercises. In October, five US congressmen braved the wave of violence to visit Israel, showing support in its time of need.
As Obama’s administration enters its
eighth and final year, Americans and Israelis alike are hopeful that the
next president will work to improve US-Israel relations even further.
The current crop of presidential candidates has had much to say on the subject of Israel, but only time will tell whose campaign promises will come true.
6. Evangelical Support for Israel: Up, Up, and Away
On a lighter note, 2015 was a great year for relations between Israel and Evangelical Christians
worldwide. While a wide gulf once separated Jewish and Christian
interests, people of faith are coming together in support of a cause
both groups can get behind – the inherent holiness and importance of the
Land of Israel.
Breaking Israel News
looks forward to another year of strengthening ties between Israel and
its supporters throughout the world, connecting the dots between
Israel’s ancient Biblical history and modern events, and providing a
uniquely Biblical perspective to our millions of readers.
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