2015 in Israel

Incumbents

• President: Reuven Rivlin
• Prime Minister: Benjamin Netanyahu
• Chief of General Staff: Benny Gantz Until February 16, Gadi Eizenkot

  Events

January

• January 5 – The site where Jesus may have been tried, prior to his crucifixion, opens to the public for the first time located under an abandoned prison building, called Kishle, that is part of the Tower of David Museum ground in the Old City of Jerusalem.
• January 18 – It was reported that Israeli helicopters attacked a Hezbollah's convoy in the Syrian-controlled part of Golan Heights, killing six prominent members of Hezbollah and six IRGC commanders, including a General.
• January 21 – A Palestinian man from the West Bank, Hamza Muhammad Hassan Matrouk, illegally crosses into Israel for the express purpose to stab people, attacking over a dozen Israelis on a bus in central Tel Aviv. Security forces captured the assailant as he continued to indiscriminately stab people in the street.
• January 28 – Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli military convoy in the Israeli-territory of Shebaa farms near the Lebanon border, killing two soldiers and wounding seven. In response, Israel fired at least 50 artillery shells across the border into southern Lebanon, in which a Spanish UN peacekeeper was killed.

  February

• February 15 – Opening of the Netivot Railway Station

  March

• March 17 – Early elections for the twentieth Knesset are held. The Likud party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wins the most seats in the Knesset, winning 30 out of 120 seats.
• March 30 – The Jerusalem District Court convicts former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert of accepting cash from an American businessman for personal use.

  April

• April 16 – A car driven by a Palestinian hit two Israelis at the French Hill junction in Jerusalem in what was described as a terror attack.
• April 25
• *A series of attacks attributed to the Israeli Air Force were made in the Qalamoun region of Syria against Hezbollah camps and weapons convoys in two brigade bases.
• *Four police officers were hit by a car in Jerusalem near the Mount of Olives in a suspected terror attack.

  June

• June 12–28 – Israel sent 141 athletes and won 12 medals at the 2015 European Games
• June 19 – An Israeli civilian was shot dead by a Palestinian gunman after they stopped when the Palestinian waved down their car on a dirt road near the West Bank settlement of Dolev. His companion was injured.
• June 21 – An Israeli Border Police officer was seriously wounded after being stabbed by a Palestinian terrorist outside the Old City of Jerusalem.

  July

• July 3–14– Israel sent 27 athletes to the 2015 Summer Universiade
• July 24-August 9 – Israel sent 16 athletes to the 2015 World Aquatics Championships
• July 27–31 – Israel national baseball team competed in the B-level qualifier for the 2016 European Baseball Championship finishing 3rd
• July 29 – First ever game of the Israel Premier Lacrosse League
• July 29 – An Israeli airstrike destroys a vehicle located in a Druse village in southwestern Syria, killing Hezbollah fighters and a pro-Assad militant. A second airstrike targeted a military base along the Syrian-Lebanese border belonging to a pro-Assad Palestinian faction.
• July 30 – Yishai Schlissel stabbed 16-year-old Shira Banki to death, and wounded six other people at the Jerusalem gay pride parade

  August

• August 6–15 – Israel women's national lacrosse team competed at the 2015 Women's Lacrosse European Championship, their first time competing in the tournament, and finished 4th
• August 20–21 – After four rockets hit the Golan Heights and Upper Galilee. Later, Israel launched allegedly strikes in Syria, killing several militants.
• August 22–30 – Israel sent 4 athletes to the 2015 World Championships in Athletics
• August 30 – Israel national American football team won their first ever game, qualifying them for the European Championship of American football

  September

• September 21 – Opening of Turner Stadium

  October

• October 18 – Beersheva bus station shooting
• October 20–22 – the 37th World Zionist Congress is held in Jerusalem
• October 31 – Israeli aircraft attacked numerous Hezbollah targets in southern Syria, close to the border with Lebanon in the Qalamoun Mountains region. Estimated targets included a weapons convoy destined for Hezbollah.

  November

• November 11 – Israeli airstrike near Damascus airport that targeted Hezbollah weapons warehouses.
• November 19 – Tel Aviv synagogue stabbing
• November 23 – Israeli airstrike in the Qualamoun region killed 13 Syrian troops and Hezbollah fighters.
• November 28 – Israeli airstrike around Qalamoun, causing dead and wounded among Hezbollah fighters.

  December

• December 20 – Explosion in Jaramana attributed to the Israeli Air Force that killed Hezbollah commander and convicted murderer Samir Kuntar.
• December 26 – Alleged Israeli airstrike against seven Hezbollah positions in the Qalamoun Mountains area.
• December 31 – Opening of the Ofakim Railway Station

  Deaths

• January 13 – Hillel Zaks, Polish-born Israeli rabbi
• January 14 – Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi, rabbi
• January 16 – Miriam Akavia, Polish-born Israeli writer and translator
• January 27 – David Landau, editor-in-chief of Haaretz
• January 29 – Israel Yinon, conductor
• February 6 – Eliezer Shlomo Schick, rabbi
• February 9 – Roman Frister, newspaper editor and Holocaust survivor
• February 16 – Uri Orbach, politician and government minister
• February 23 – Haim Corfu, politician and government minister
• February 27 – Nadia Hilou, politician
• March 11 – Janice Rebibo, American-born Israeli poet
• March 13 – Lia van Leer, Romanian-born Israeli film programming pioneer
• March 24 – Yehuda Avner, prime ministerial advisor, diplomat, and author
• April 3 – Shmuel Wosner, rabbi
• April 14 – Meir Rosenne, lawyer and diplomat
• April 12 – Aharon Lichtenstein, rabbi
• May 7 – Arieh Elias, actor
• May 8 – Menashe Kadishman, sculptor and painter
• May 16 – Moshe Levinger, rabbi
• May 19 – Robert S. Wistrich, historian
• June 3 – Avi Beker, writer, statesman, and academic
• June 5 – Eshel Ben-Jacob, physicist
• June 8 – David Rotem, politician
• June 12 – Shoshana Arbeli-Almozlino, politician and government minister
• June 27 – Zvi Elpeleg, Polish-born Israeli academic and diplomat
• July 1 – Shlomo Moussaieff, diamond merchant and antique collector
• July 8 – Yoash Tzidon, politician
• August 6 – Orna Porat, German-born Israeli actress
• August 13 – Shlomo Smiltiner, chess player
• August 16 – Jacob Bekenstein, Mexican-born Israeli-American theoretical physicist
• September 25 – Moti Kirschenbaum, TV show host
• November 6 – Yitzhak Navon, diplomat and politician, former President of Israel
• December 4 – Yossi Sarid, politician and news commentator
• December 15 – Harry Zvi Tabor, British-born Israeli Physicist