Shimon Agranat (; September 5, 1906 – August 10, 1992) was an Israeli jurist and the third President of the

Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) 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 Court consists of 15 jud ...

, from 1965 until 1976.

Biography

Agranat was born to a Jewish-

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

family in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

in 1906. His parents, Aaron Joseph Agranat and Polya Schnitzer, had immigrated to the United States from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

shortly before his birth. Agranat grew up in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and attended Jewish schools. He studied law and philosophy at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, and graduated with a J.D. degree from the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 180 full-time and part-time facul ...

in 1929. He

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 ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

in 1930 and settled in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, 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 metropolitan area i ...

. Agranat spoke

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, with a strong American accent. Agranat was married to Carmel Friedlander, the daughter of Israel Friedlander and niece of

Norman Bentwich Norman de Mattos Bentwich (28 February 1883 – 8 April 1971) was a British barrister and legal academic. He was the British-appointed attorney-general of Mandatory Palestine and a lifelong Zionist. Biography Early life Norman Bentwich was the ...

. The couple lived in Nayot,

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

,''Batei Tzioney America'', Kol Ha'ir, Ruth Yovel, July 3, 1987 (Hebrew) and had five children. Agranat died in

on August 10, 1992.

Judicial career

In April 1932, Agranat was certified as a lawyer in Palestine. After completing an internship in Jerusalem, he worked as a private lawyer. In 1940, he was appointed a judge on the Haifa Magistrate's Court. In 1948, he became President of the Haifa District Court. In December 1948, Agranat was appointed to the

Israeli Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) 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 Court consists of 15 jud ...

at age 42, becoming one of the world's youngest Supreme Court justices. He presides the Court in Kastner trial en 1958. From 1954 to 1966, while continuing to serve on the Supreme Court, he was a Visiting Professor of Criminal Law at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. He was appointed President of the Supreme Court in 1965, and served in this position until 1976, retiring at the age of 70. In 1974, he headed the

Agranat Commission The Agranat Commission (Hebrew: ועדת אגרנט) was a National Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate failings in the Israel Defense Forces in the prelude to the Yom Kippur War when Israel was found unprepared for the Egyptian attack a ...

, which investigated the 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

. The findings of this commission led to the resignation of Prime Minister

Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...

, Defense Minister

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan (; May 20, 1915 – October 16, 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of General Staff (Israel), Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defe ...

, and IDF Chief of Staff

David Elazar David "Dado" Elazar (; 27 August 1925 – 15 April 1976) was an Israeli senior military officer who was the ninth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), serving in that capacity from 1972 to 1974. He was forced to resign in the afterma ...

.The Frying Pan and the Fire
/ref> Following his retirement, he taught at the

and

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

Awards and commemoration

Justice Simon Agranat Square in Jerusalem

In 1968, Agranat was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

for his contribution to Israeli jurisprudence. A plaza at the entrance to the

free decisions database is named after Agranat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agranat, Shimon 1906 births 1992 deaths American emigrants to Mandatory Palestine American people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century Israeli judges Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Israel Israel Prize in law recipients Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent Jews from Mandatory Palestine University of Chicago Law School alumni 20th-century American Jews Lawyers from Jerusalem Immigrants of the Fifth Aliyah

Biography

Judicial career

Awards and commemoration

See also

References