Esther Hayut (; born 16 October 1953) is the Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court (, ''Beit HaMishpat HaElyon''; ar, المحكمة العليا) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme C ...

. She was sworn in on 26 October 2017, and is expected to serve as Chief Justice until October 2023.

Early life

Esther "Esti" Avni was born in

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it h ...

, Israel, in the Shaviv

ma'abara Ma'abarot ( he, מַעְבָּרוֹת) were immigrant and refugee absorption camps established in Israel in the 1950s, constituting one of the largest public projects planned by the state to implement its sociospatial and housing policies. T ...

(today the Yad HaTesha neighborhood) to Yehuda and Yehudit Avni, who were both

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...

. Her parents divorced when she was a toddler, and her father emigrated to 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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. She grew up in her grandparents' home in the Neve Amal neighborhood of Herzliya. At age 17, she moved to

Eilat Eilat ( , ; he, אֵילַת ; ar, إِيلَات, Īlāt) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan ...

to live with her mother, who had remarried. She completed high school in Eilat in 1971. After graduating high school, she was conscripted into the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

, where she served in the military music band of Central Command. After her discharge from the army, Hayut attended law school at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, graduating in 1977. During her law studies, she also met her husband, David Hayut, with whom she has two sons. Hayut interned at the law firm of

Haim Yosef Zadok Haim Yosef Zadok ( he, חיים יוסף צדוק, born Haim Wilkenfeld; 2 October 1913 – 15 August 2002) was an Israeli jurist and politician. Early life Zadok was born in 1913 in Rava-Ruska in Eastern Galicia in Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine) ...

, a former Israeli

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

, where she stayed on to work as an associate lawyer between 1977 and 1985. After leaving the firm, Hayut opened an independent office together with her husband, specializing in commercial and tort law. In 2022, Hayut was awarded by

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

as one of the 50 over 50 women leading the way throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Judicial career

In March 1990 Hayut was appointed as a judge in the Tel Aviv Magistrate Court, and in 1996 was appointed to the Tel Aviv District Court where she gained tenure in 1997. In March 2003 Hayut was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel, where she gained tenure in March 2004. In May 2015 Hayut was appointed Chairperson of the Central Election Committee for the 20th Knesset. Hayut was elected to replace

Miriam Naor Miriam Naor ( he, מרים נאור) (26 October 1947 – 24 January 2022) was an Israeli judge who was President of the Supreme Court of Israel from January 2015 to October 2017. Naor retired at the end of October 2017 upon reaching the mandato ...

as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 2017 and serve as such until 2023, according to the seniority method used in Israel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayut, Esther 1953 births Judges of the Supreme Court of Israel Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Israel Israeli women judges People from Eilat People from Herzliya Tel Aviv University alumni Living people Women chief justices Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent

Early life

Judicial career

See also

References