Yaakov Neeman ( he, יעקב נאמן, 16 September 1939 – 1 January 2017) was an Israeli lawyer who also served as

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 ...

and

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Biography

Neeman was born to a religious

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

family in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

during the Mandate era. He was educated at the Midrashiat Noam high-school

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...

and completed his military service in the Golani Brigade. He went on to study law at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning a

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1964. In 1965, he earned a

LL.M A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, and in 1968, a

LL.D Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the earl ...

. After returning to Israel, in 1972 he founded the law firm Herzog, Fox & Ne'eman, along with future president of Israel

Chaim Herzog Major-General Chaim Herzog ( he, חיים הרצוג; 17 September 1918 – 17 April 1997) was an Irish-born Israeli politician, general, lawyer and author who served as the sixth President of Israel between 1983 and 1993. Born in Belfast and ...

. Neeman was appointed Director General of the Finance Ministry in 1979, serving until 1981. In June 1996 he was appointed to the Israeli cabinet as

by Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, despite not being a member of the

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 ...

. Two months later he resigned from the cabinet, after Attorney General

Michael Ben-Yair Prof. Michael Ben-Yair ( he, מיכאל בן יאיר; born 1 September 1942) was raised in Sheikh Jarrah until 1948, is a former Attorney General of Israel, a position he held between 1993 and 1996, and former acting judge at the Supreme Court of ...

opened a criminal investigation into allegations that Neeman had tried to suborn a witness in the trial of MK Aryeh Deri. Neeman was eventually cleared of the charges and returned to the cabinet in July 1997 as

until the end of the Netanyahu premiership at the 1999 elections. In late March 2009, following Netanyahu's return to power as Prime Minister of Israel, Neeman was again appointed as Justice Minister. Neeman resided in

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

in the

Talbiya ar, الطالبية , settlement_type = Neighborhood of Jerusalem , image_skyline = File:TalbiyaDec122022 01.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = ...

section. He is survived by his wife and six children.

Committee Membership

Neeman has chaired or been a member of numerous national and international committees, including the Executive Committee of

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academi ...

, the public committee appointed by the

Speaker of the Knesset The Speaker of the Knesset ( he, יוֹשֵׁב רֹאשׁ הכנסת, Yoshev Rosh HaKnesset, Chairman of the Knesset) is the presiding officer of the Knesset, the unicameral legislature of Israel. The Speaker also acts as President of Israel whe ...

to determine salaries and other payments to government officials, the public committee appointed by the cabinet for the Drafting of the Constitution, the Public Committee on Educational Centers, the Public Committee on Privatisation Issues of

El Al El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugura ...

, the board of governors of Bank of Israel, the Committee for the Conversion Law, the National Committee for the Identification of Fallen Soldiers in Times of Emergency, Israel Atomic Energy Committee and the Central Committee of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

Political views

On 8 December 2009, while serving as the Minister of Justice, Ne'eman was reported as saying that he believed that

Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

should gradually be made binding law in Israel, with the ultimate goal of making Israel a

Halakhic state A halachic state ( he, מדינת הלכה, ''Medinat Halakha'') is a Jewish state governed by ''halakha'', Jewish religious law. Public opinion An opinion poll released in March 2016 by the Pew Research Center found high support for a halach ...

. But he later denied this, emphasizing that "the Knesset is the legislator in Israel, and the interpretation of its laws is determined by the ivilcourts." He said that he advocated the use of religious courts only in an auxiliary role, to "resolve financial disputes in accordance with the principles of Jewish law. The court system in Israel is backed up, and therefore, cases should be transferred to an alternative system."

References

External links

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Herzog, Fox & NeemanSpeech that Yaakov Neeman gave at "Be A Mensch" book launch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neeman, Yaakov 1939 births 2017 deaths People from Tel Aviv Orthodox Jews in Mandatory Palestine Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni New York University School of Law alumni Israeli jurists Israeli chief executives Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Ministers of Finance of Israel Ministers of Justice of Israel 20th-century Israeli politicians 21st-century Israeli politicians Israeli Orthodox Jews