2016 in Israel

Israel entered 2016 amid the wave of largely uncoordinated Palestinian terrorist attacks that had begun in September 2015. The violence decreased during 2016, although the Israeli-Palestinian political process remained stalled and analysts continued to warn of renewed escalation.[1][2] The Gaza border was comparatively quiet, but Hamas and other terrorist organizations continued rebuilding military capabilities during the lull.[3]

The year's major political and diplomatic developments included the May expansion of Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition and the June normalization agreement with Turkey.[4][5] In September, Israel signed a ten-year U.S. military-assistance memorandum and Shimon Peres died at age 93.[6][7] The November wildfire crisis and the December adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 closed the year amid domestic disruption and diplomatic controversy.[8][9]

The wave of largely uncoordinated Palestinian attacks that began in September–October 2015—widely termed the "knife intifada"—continued into 2016, though its pace showed a broad downward trend over the course of the year.[2][1] The U.S. State Department recorded 12 attacks within Israel's Green Line during 2016, in which seven Israelis and one foreign citizen were killed and 62 Israelis were injured. The attacks occurred in West Jerusalem, Tel Aviv–Jaffa, Netanya, Petah Tikva, Rahat, and Ramle. Most attackers were Palestinians from the West Bank—known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria—while four were Arab citizens of Israel.[1]

The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center's annual review classified 61% of significant attacks as stabbings, 23% as shootings, and roughly 8% as vehicular attacks.[3] It counted 17 Israelis killed in 2016—10 in shooting attacks and seven in stabbings—bringing the total killed since the wave began in October 2015 to 47.[3] Israeli military figures provided a broader accounting over the 15 months from October 2015 through the end of 2016: 281 attacks originating in Judea and Samaria, comprising 143 stabbings, 89 shootings, 39 vehicle-rammings, and nine explosive-device attacks.[10] Such attacks killed six Israelis in 2016, compared with 13 in 2015; the 826 stone-throwing incidents recorded during the second half of 2016 represented the lowest half-year figure in that category in a decade.[10]

On January 1, Nashat Milhem opened fire at a bar on Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Street, killing two people and injuring eight. During his subsequent flight he killed a taxi driver; security forces located and killed him after a weeklong hunt.[1] In March, a Palestinian terrorist carried out a stabbing attack at Jaffa Port, killing a U.S. citizen and wounding ten others. The assault lasted approximately 20 minutes before police shot the attacker, identified as Bashar Masalha of Kalandiya.[11] On April 18, a bomb detonated on Egged Bus 12 in Jerusalem, injuring 21 people.[12]

The most lethal single attack of the year struck on June 8, when cousins Muhammad and Khalid Muhamra opened fire on diners at the Sarona Market complex in downtown Tel Aviv, killing four people and wounding others.[11][13] An Israeli Security Agency investigation found that ISIS online propaganda had inspired the attack and that friends had helped with preparations.[11] During the attack, civilian Haggai Klein threw a stool at the assailants, briefly halting them and causing one to drop his weapon before security forces captured the attackers.[14] The two cousins were subsequently convicted of four murders and 41 counts of attempted murder and conspiracy; a third man was convicted of conspiracy.[12]

The INSS assessed that Palestinian violence had abated somewhat by late 2016 but linked the risk of renewed escalation to Palestinian frustration over the absence of a political horizon and poor socioeconomic conditions.[2] The review described renewed violence in autumn 2016 and characterized the Israeli-Palestinian political process as stalled, noting that French, Egyptian, and Russian initiatives to revive it had proved futile.[2]

Despite the ongoing wave of individual attacks, 2016 was the quietest year on the Gaza front since Israel's 2005 disengagement from the Strip and Hamas's 2007 takeover.[3] The Meir Amit center counted only 15 rocket hits in Israeli territory during the year, down from 24 in 2015, attributing the decline primarily to Hamas's deliberate restraint policy.[3] The State Department reported that Palestinian terrorist groups fired 46 projectiles into Israel during 2016, with no Israeli fatalities resulting from rocket or mortar fire.[1]

Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorist organizations used the relative calm to rebuild and expand their military capabilities, including rocket arsenals, tunnel networks, longer-range rockets, and unmanned aerial vehicles.[3][11] Israel expressed particular concern about Palestinian Islamic Jihad's parallel capacity-building efforts.[11] Beyond Gaza, the State Department recorded 21 incidents of mortar fire or cross-border shooting from Syria during 2016, reflecting the spillover risks posed by the ongoing Syrian civil war.[1]

The most consequential political development of the year was the May 2016 entry of Yisrael Beiteinu into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition.[4] Party leader Avigdor Lieberman was appointed defense minister, replacing Likud member Moshe Ya'alon.[4] Ya'alon, who resigned on May 19, cited Netanyahu's management of recent events and a "lack of faith" in the prime minister.[15] The appointment drew criticism from centrists concerned that Lieberman's bellicose statements and opposition to pursuing peace with the Palestinians could harm Israeli diplomacy.[16] Environmental Protection Minister Avi Gabbay resigned in protest over the deal.[17] The Congressional Research Service described Netanyahu's coalition as comprising six generally right-of-center parties and noted internal divisions that complicated consensus-building.[4]

A dispute between Lieberman and Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett over information shared in the security cabinet contributed to tensions within the coalition before the appointment was finalized.[17]

In July, the Knesset passed two significant measures. The NGO foreign-funding disclosure law passed by 57 votes to 48 and required organizations receiving more than half their funding from foreign governments or bodies such as the European Union to disclose that support in official publications, when attending Knesset meetings, and in communications with the public.[18] Organizations could be fined 29,200 shekels for violations, with the law scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2017.[1] The government presented the measure as promoting transparency; critics argued that it stigmatized or disproportionately burdened human-rights and left-leaning groups.[18]

The second measure amended Israel's Basic Law to allow the Knesset, by a supermajority, to expel a member who incited racism or supported violence against the state.[4] The Congressional Research Service noted that the measure appeared tailored to concerns raised by several lawmakers regarding certain Arab MKs.[4]

In August, Lieberman presented a "carrot and stick" plan linking rewards or punishments for particular Palestinian communities in Judea and Samaria to the degree that attackers came from those communities, generating significant debate.[4]

A significant internal military controversy began in March, when Sgt. Elor Azaria shot a wounded Palestinian attacker lying on the ground in Hebron in Judea and Samaria.[4] Azaria was tried for manslaughter in an Israeli military court, and the case divided defense officials from some political leaders amid dispute over whether the wounded man could reasonably have been considered a continuing threat.[4]

On the opposition benches, the Labor Party Congress voted unanimously in February 2016 to make unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians a central part of the party's platform—its first platform change since 2002. Labor leader Isaac Herzog argued that separation was a strategic priority and that Israel might need to act independently if negotiations failed.[14]

Israel and Turkey signed a normalization agreement on June 28, 2016, ending a six-year rupture in relations that had followed the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla incident.[5] The deal provided for the restoration of full diplomatic relations and the exchange of ambassadors—which took place in December—and for Israel to transfer $20 million to a Turkish fund for families affected by the Mavi Marmara incident.[19] Its Gaza provisions allowed Turkish-financed humanitarian aid and infrastructure projects, including a power station developed with German cooperation and desalination plants, subject to Israeli security checks. It also addressed security cooperation and Turkey's commitment to prevent Hamas from acting against Israel from Turkish territory.[5][19]

Turkey's parliament ratified the agreement on August 19.[5] The INSS noted that cooperation over Gaza, while a diplomatic achievement, could also create friction, including concerns that reconstruction activity might inadvertently strengthen Hamas's rule in the Strip.[5]

The normalization nonetheless remained uneasy. In a November interview, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan did not retract an earlier comparison he had drawn between Israeli actions and Hitler's, stating: "I don't approve of what Hitler did, and neither do I approve of what Israel has done."[20]

On September 14, 2016, the United States and Israel signed a ten-year memorandum of understanding governing U.S. military assistance for fiscal years 2019–2028.[6] The agreement committed $38 billion in total assistance—$33 billion in foreign military financing and $5 billion for missile-defense development—and was described by the U.S. administration as the largest single pledge of military assistance in American history.[6][21]

The negotiations also addressed supplemental appropriations. Israeli negotiator Yaakov Nagel said Israel had agreed not to seek additional funds during the final two years of the preceding aid package and would return excess congressional allocations during that period. For the new package, the parties agreed not to deviate from the foreign-military-financing amounts specified in the memorandum.[21] The agreement remained subject to congressional appropriations.[6]

Shimon Peres, one of the last of Israel's founding generation of leaders, died on September 28, 2016, at age 93, two weeks after suffering a major stroke.[7] During a political career spanning seven decades, Peres served twice as prime minister, later became Israel's ninth president, and held several senior ministerial and defense posts.[7] He shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat for efforts connected with the interim Israeli-Palestinian agreements.[7]

More than 80 world leaders traveled to Israel to attend his funeral, reflecting the global stature Peres had accumulated over his long career.[7] Attendees included former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and numerous European diplomats.[4]

A severe wildfire crisis struck Israel in late November 2016, affecting Haifa and numerous other areas across the country.[8][22] The INSS review counted 1,773 fires from November 22 to 26 and reported that tens of thousands of residents were evacuated and several hundred buildings were ruined or extensively damaged.[8] In Haifa, fires broke out at multiple locations and spread rapidly in strong winds, prompting the evacuation of approximately 70,000 residents; 104 people were taken to hospitals with minor smoke-inhalation injuries.[23] Other reporting said that 800 apartments were rendered uninhabitable and around 1,700 people were left homeless.[20]

A Ben-Gurion University study treating the episode as a six-day event from November 22 to 27 found that the fires led to the evacuation of 75,000 people, with no loss of life or significant immediate health impacts.[22] The study analyzed 106,595 participants over the period from one year before the fires through two years afterward. Residents with underlying morbidity had higher hospitalization rates that remained elevated for two years after exposure; a similar pattern appeared among people of low socioeconomic status without pre-existing conditions.[22] The authors concluded that health services should prepare for increased hospitalization rates among these groups following future wildfires.[22]

The cause of the fires was disputed. The INSS assessment attributed the wave primarily to extreme weather—heat, aridity, and strong winds—and said it was premature to determine how many fires had a hostile background. It also cautioned that arson was not the principal reason for the overall wave.[8] Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan stated that 40% to 50% of the fires resulted from arson, a claim attributed to him personally rather than presented as an independently established finding.[20] Total estimated damage was reported at approximately $520 million.[20]

In October 2016, UNESCO's executive board adopted a resolution on Jerusalem's holy sites proposed by the Palestinian Authority and Jordan.[24] The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported that 24 countries voted in favor, six against, and 26 abstained.[24] The resolution referred to the Temple Mount and Western Wall using Arabic names without acknowledging their Jewish designations, drawing condemnation in Israel as an attempt to deny the Jewish people's ancient connection to Jerusalem's holiest places.[25] The United States, Britain, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Estonia, and Germany were among those voting against.[25]

UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova publicly opposed the resolution and affirmed the Temple Mount's significance to the Jewish people; nonetheless, the resolution was ratified on October 18 without a revote.[24] A second UNESCO Jerusalem resolution was also adopted that month.[20] Israeli coalition and opposition leaders condemned the resolutions as historically distorted and as disregarding the Jewish people's documented ties to Jerusalem.[25]

On December 23, 2016, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2334 by 14 votes in favor, none against, and one abstention, cast by the United States.[26][9] The resolution stated that Israeli settlement activity in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, "has no legal validity," characterized the settlements as a "flagrant violation under international law," and called on Israel to cease settlement activity.[27][9]

The abstention marked the first time in 36 years that the United States had declined to veto an anti-Israel Security Council resolution.[9] Israel rejected the resolution's conclusions outright, and the measure contained no enforcement mechanism.[9] Its legal characterizations of Israeli settlements and of the territories in question represent the resolution's stated positions and remain subjects of continuing political and legal dispute.

Published estimates of immigration to Israel in 2016 differed: Maariv reported approximately 24,000 new immigrants, while the Jewish Virtual Library reported 36,000.[28][29] One particularly notable episode came on March 21, when the Jewish Agency secretly brought 17 Yemeni Jews to Israel.[30] The operation was described as completing a broader clandestine effort that had brought approximately 200 Jews from Yemen in recent years amid the country's civil war.[30]

Israel's economy performed strongly in 2016. GDP growth accelerated from 2.5% in 2015 to 4.0% in revised figures published in March 2017, compared with 3.2% in 2014.[31][32] The Central Bureau of Statistics' preliminary December 2016 estimate had placed growth at 3.8%, with per-capita GDP growth of 1.8%.[32] The Bank of Israel attributed the acceleration in part to vehicle purchases brought forward ahead of anticipated tax changes, which contributed at least 0.3 percentage points to growth; excluding that effect, growth was approximately 3.7%.[33]

Household domestic demand drove much of the expansion: private consumption rose 6.3%, while fixed capital formation excluding ships and aircraft grew 10.7%.[33] Private consumption per capita rose 4%, and exports of goods and services grew 3%.[32] The unemployment rate among people aged 25–64 fell to 4.1%, described by the Bank of Israel as its lowest level in several decades, while the employment rate for prime working ages reached 76.6%.[33] Total labor input increased 3.8%.[33]

The state budget deficit came in well below the original target: NIS 25.5 billion, or 2.1% of GDP, against a planned NIS 35 billion, or 2.9% of GDP.[34] The Finance Ministry attributed the improvement primarily to revenues NIS 9.9 billion above forecast, while expenditures ran only NIS 0.3 billion over plan.[34]

Tourism also expanded: approximately 2.9 million visitors arrived in 2016, up 3.6% from 2015.[35] Arrivals during September through December reached an all-time high for that period, with 250,000 tourists recorded in December alone.[35] Particularly strong percentage growth was recorded in arrivals from China, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Georgia, Croatia, Belarus, and Latvia.[35]

At the end of 2016, Israel's population stood at approximately 8.63 million, an increase of about 2% over the course of the year.[29] The population comprised roughly 6.45 million Jews (74.8%), 1.796 million Arabs (20.8%), and 384,000 others (4.4%); the figures excluded foreign workers and migrants without resident status.[29] The Jewish population grew by 1.7% and the Arab population by 2.2%, while approximately 181,000 births were recorded during the year.[29]

Israel sent its largest Olympic delegation to that point to the Rio 2016 Games, competing across 16 events.[36] The delegation competed in Olympic golf, mountain biking, and triathlon for the first time.[36] Israel returned home with two bronze medals, both in judo: Yarden Gerbi won in the women's under-63-kilogram competition, and Or Sasson won in the men's over-100-kilogram competition.[36][37] The results ended an eight-year period without an Israeli Olympic medal.[37]

The Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research completed several significant projects in 2016. Among them was the institute's major contribution to Jerusalem's Marom Plan, a government-commissioned five-year economic-development program with a budget of NIS 290 million, focused on tourism, biotechnology and industry, higher education, and related development measures.[38] The institute provided consultation, research, monitoring, and evaluation for the plan throughout the year.[38]

A three-year urban-sustainability project concluded in May. Its final phase produced policy recommendations and sustainability indicators through working groups on community, the sharing economy, and public space. The concluding conference was held in April, and the institute published the volume "Urban Sustainability: Making It Happen."[38]

The year also marked the 30th edition of the institute's Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem. It was published in Hebrew-English and, for the first time, in Hebrew-Arabic; it contained approximately 200 charts and graphs covering population, migration, employment, construction, tourism, education, health, and municipal finances.[38] The institute also published, with the Israel Democracy Institute, the first Statistical Yearbook of the Ultra-Orthodox Society in Israel in late 2016.[38] Across the year, it held more than 25 conferences and roundtables, ran over 35 research projects, and published more than 15 reports.[38]

Several developments of 2016 took effect or were reassessed afterward. The NGO disclosure law became effective on January 1, 2017, while the U.S.-Israel aid memorandum covered fiscal years 2019–2028.[1][6] Revised figures published in March 2017 raised estimated 2016 GDP growth from 3.8% to 4.0%.[31] Later research into the wildfires found elevated hospitalization rates for up to two years among residents with underlying morbidity and some low-income populations.[22]

Several major events generated lasting disagreements over evidence or interpretation. The cause of the November fires remained disputed: the INSS emphasized extreme weather and said it was premature to determine how many fires had a hostile background, while Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan asserted that arson accounted for 40% to 50% of them.[8][20] Reported fire totals also varied according to the apparent unit or geographic scope being counted.[8]

The Elor Azaria case exposed a deep rift over military ethics and rules of engagement. His manslaughter trial divided defense-establishment figures from some political leaders, with disagreement centered on whether the wounded attacker still constituted a threat.[4]

The October UNESCO resolutions and December UN Security Council Resolution 2334 concerned historically, politically, and legally contested questions. UNESCO's failure to use the Jewish names of the Temple Mount and Western Wall was condemned in Israel as erasing thousands of years of Jewish history in Jerusalem.[24][25] Resolution 2334's statements that settlements have "no legal validity" and constitute a "flagrant violation under international law" record the resolution's position; Israel rejected those conclusions in full.[27][9]