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Despite Israel's vocal objections, international powers led by the United States signed a landmark agreement with Iran this year. History will decide whether the deal succeeded in stopping Iran's nuclear program and bringing the Iranian regime into the fold of civilized nations, or fueled its support for international terrorism and determination to destroy Israel.
Both US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at loggerheads over national interests and personal legacies, put the issue at the top of their agendas.
The Iran deal, which captured international attention and enormous media coverage, heads the The Jerusalem Post's list of the top five news stories of 2015. The list was chosen from an Israeli, Middle East and global perspective, based on news value, historical significance and public interest.
1. THE IRAN DEAL
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between Iran and the P5+1 world powers (the US, the UK, Russia, France, China and Germany) was signed on July 14. It essentially removes international economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for a halt to its nuclear weapons program. Obama hailed the Iran deal as one of his administration's top accomplishments.
"We succeeded in forging a strong deal to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama said.
Netanyahu lobbied stridently against the deal, including a controversial address to US Congress in March, and when the deal was finally struck, he issued a tough statement denouncing it, saying that Israel is not bound by it because Iran continues to seek Israel's destruction.
"The leading international powers have bet our collective future on a deal with the foremost sponsor of international terrorism," Netanyahu said. "They've gambled that in 10 years' time, Iran's terrorist regime will change while removing any incentive for it to do so. In fact, the deal gives Iran every incentive not to change."
2. TERRORISM TSUNAMI
The past year has seen a tsunami of terrorism, targeting Israel and other countries around the world.
At home, we witnessed a series of apparently lone-wolf terrorist attacks that have taken a painful toll. The current wave of terrorism against Israelis began on September 13, when Alexander Levlovich was killed after his vehicle was stoned on his way home from a Rosh Hashana dinner. The violence escalated from stonings and...