Ayala Procaccia ( he, אילה פרוקצ'יה, born 1941) is a retired Israeli Justice of the

Supreme Court of Israel ar, المحكمة العليا , image = Emblem of Israel dark blue full.svg , imagesize = 100px , caption = Emblem of Israel , motto = , established = , location = Givat Ram, Jerusalem , coordina ...

. Before being elected to the Supreme Court in 2001, she served as a judge in the Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court until 1993 and in the Jerusalem District Court from 1993 to 2001. While active in the Israeli law courts, Ayala Procaccia worked to change Israeli law to champion equality for all, regardless of gender or religion.

Biography

Procaccia was born in

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Ashdot Ya'akov Ashdot Ya'akov ( he, אַשְׁדוֹת יַעֲקֹב, lit. ''Ya'akov Rapids'') is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Originally founded in 1924 by a kvutza of Hashomer members from Latvia on the land which is today Gesher, it moved to its current l ...

to a German father, Hanan Aynor, and a Polish mother, Yaffa Puterman-Efrat (Rodstein). She was an only child, and attended public schools in Tel Aviv. Procaccia served in 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 ...

between 1959 and 1961. She graduated from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem 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 ...

with an LL.B. degree in 1963 (distinction) and a master's degree in 1969 (distinction). Following her graduation, she served as legal assistant to Chief Justice Simon Agranat for four years. In 1969, she moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

to pursue a

Doctor of Juridical Science A Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD; ), or a Doctor of Science of Law (JSD; ), is a research doctorate in law equivalent to the more commonly awarded Doctor of Philosophy degree. Australia The S.J.D. is offered by the Australian National Univ ...

degree (S.J.D.) at the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and oldes ...

. Upon her graduation in 1972, she returned to Israel and became the legal assistant to the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. In 1983, she was appointed legal adviser to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Israel. She was appointed judiciary in 1987, and served in both the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court and in the Jerusalem District Court until 2001. She supported the right of children in East Jerusalem and said that children's right to free education in East Jerusalem is not being met In 2001 she was elected to the

where she served until her retirement in 2011.

Personal life

Procaccia was married to Uriel Procaccia (whom she divorced in 1991) and has two children, Oren (b. 1971) and Yuval (b. 1974).

References

External links

"Israeli Law, the Security Fence and the Disengagement: Litigation before the Supreme Court"
(Lecture given at

Boston University School of Law Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States and considered an eli ...

) Living people 1941 births Israeli women judges Israeli Jews Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni Judges of the Supreme Court of Israel University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni {{Israel-law-bio-stub