Miriam Naor ( he, מרים נאור) (26 October 1947 – 24 January 2022) was an Israeli judge who was President 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 ...

from January 2015 to October 2017. Naor retired at the end of October 2017 upon reaching the mandatory judicial retirement age of 70. She was succeeded by

Esther Hayut Esther Hayut (; born 16 October 1953) is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel. 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, Is ...

Biography

Naor was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Naor hailed from a family rooted in the

Revisionist Zionist Revisionist Zionism is an ideology developed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who advocated a "revision" of the "practical Zionism" of David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann which was focused on the settling of ''Eretz Yisrael'' ( Land of Israel) by independent ...

tradition. Her father, Naftaly Lerner,

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

from

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

to Palestine in 1922 and studied civil engineering at the Technion in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

. In 1944, he married her mother Batya (née Karklinsky), who immigrated from Lithuania in 1910. She studied nursing at the Hadassah School of Nursing in Jerusalem. She graduated from the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

’s law school in 1971. Her husband, Aryeh Naor, served as Prime Minister

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...

’s cabinet secretary from 1977 to 1982. Her mother-in-law,

Esther Raziel-Naor Esther Raziel-Naor ( he, אסתר רזיאל-נאור, 29 November 1911 – 11 November 2002) was a Revisionist Zionist, Irgun leader and Israeli politician. She was the sister of fellow Irgun leader David Raziel. Biography Early life Raziel was ...

, was a long-serving member of

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

for

Herut Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. History Herut was founded by Menachem Begin ...

(the precursor to

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

) — from 1949 to 1973 and the sister of

David Raziel David Raziel ( he, דוד רזיאל; 19 November 1910 – 20 May 1941) was a leader of the Zionist underground in British Mandatory Palestine and one of the founders of the Irgun. Biography David Rozenson (later Raziel) was born in Smarhon� ...

. Her son Naftali — whose godfather was Menachem Begin — ran unsuccessfully in Likud primaries. Naor died on 24 January 2022, at the age of 74.

Legal and judicial career

Naor clerked for Supreme Court justice (later Chief Justice)

Moshe Landau Moshe Landau ( he, משה לנדוי) (29 April 1912 – 1 May 2011) was an Israeli judge. He was the fifth President of the Supreme Court of Israel. Biography Landau was born in Danzig, Germany (modern Gdańsk, Poland) to Dr. Isaac Landau and ...

. She worked on constitutional issues in the State Attorney’s Office under

Mishael Cheshin Mishael Cheshin ( he, מישאל חשין‎; 16 February 1936 – 19 September 2015) was an Israeli Justice who served in the Supreme Court of Israel from 1992 to 2006. Born in Beirut, Greater Lebanon, Cheshin was the son of Leah (née Margal ...

, who would later be appointed Deputy Chief Justice. In 1980 she won her first judicial appointment to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court. In May 1989, Naor was appointed to the Jerusalem District Court. Later in the 1990s, she served as one of the judges who eventually convicted

Shas Shas ( he, ש״ס) is a Haredi religious political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until his death in October 2013, it primarily ...

chairman Aryeh Deri on bribery charges. She became a permanent justice on the Supreme Court in 2003. Naor spent 38 years on the bench, 17 of them on the Supreme Court. Her final act was ratifying the verdict allowing Tel Aviv supermarkets and recreation centers to remain open on Shabbat. In October 2018 she was appointed President of the Zionist Supreme Court of the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naor, Miriam 1947 births 2022 deaths Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Israel Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Israeli women judges Women chief justices People from Jerusalem

Biography

Legal and judicial career

See also

References