Dalia Dorner (; born March 3, 1934) is an Israeli-Turkish law professor and former Justice 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 ...
, serving from 1993 to 2004. She was one of the judges in the trial of
John Demjanjuk
John Demjanjuk (), born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demjanjuk (), was a Trawniki and Nazi camp guard at Sobibor extermination camp, Majdanek, and Flossenbürg. Demjanjuk became the center of global media attention in the 1980s, when he was tried and ...
.
Biography
Dalia Dorner (née Dolly Greenberg) was born in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
,
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. Her father, a wood merchant, Levy Greenberg, immigrated there from
Odessa
ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...
. Her family immigrated once again in 1944, this time to
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 ...
, where her father died shortly after. Her mother sent her to a
Youth Aliyah
Youth Aliyah (Hebrew: עלית הנוער, ''Aliyat Hano'ar'', German: Jugend-Alijah, Youth Immigration) is a Jewish organization that rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Nazis during the Third Reich. Youth Aliyah arranged for their r ...
boarding school in
Nahariya
Nahariya () is the northernmost coastal city in Israel. As of , the city had a population of .
The city was founded in 1935 by Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany.
Etymology
Nahariya takes its name from the stream of Ga'aton River, Ga'aton (riv ...
, from which she continued to the
Hebrew Reali School
The Hebrew Reali School of Haifa (), located in Haifa, Israel, is one of the country's oldest private schools.[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 ...]
.
During her compulsory service in the
IDF, she started her law studies in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
. There she met her future husband, Shmuel. They married in 1958 and have two sons, Ariel Levy Bendor (b. 1963) and Amir Eliezer (b. 1965).
After the army, she completed her law studies 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. ...
.
Legal career
Dorner worked for the
Israel Police
The Israel Police (; ) is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism. It is under the jurisdiction o ...
for a period, and then re-enlisted as an IDF officer in the
Military Advocate General
The Military Advocate General (MAG Corps') (, ''HaPraklitut HaTzva'it'') is responsible for implementing the rule of law within the Israel Defense Forces. The unit's objectives include integrating the rule of law amongst IDF commanders and soldie ...
, rising up through the ranks to the position of Chief Military Defense. In 1974 she was appointed as a judge on the Military Court of Appeals, with the rank of
Colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
. She was the first Israeli woman not serving in the
Israeli Women's Corps
The Gender Advisor (GENAD) to the Chief of Defense Staff (, abbreviated to ) is a female officer in the Israel Defense Forces that is in charge of "promoting conditions that allow for the optimal use of the capabilities of women serving in th ...
to reach the ranks of Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel.
After retiring from the IDF, Dorner became a District Court Judge, first in the Southern District and later in the Jerusalem District. She was one of the judges who convicted
John Demjanjuk
John Demjanjuk (), born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demjanjuk (), was a Trawniki and Nazi camp guard at Sobibor extermination camp, Majdanek, and Flossenbürg. Demjanjuk became the center of global media attention in the 1980s, when he was tried and ...
and sentenced him to death in 1988,
a decision overturned by Israel's Supreme Court, in 1993.
In April 1993, she was appointed a provisional Supreme Court Justice, and a year later this position was made permanent. In her position, Dorner proved to be an ardent advocate of
human rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
, as was expressed in her interpretation of the
Basic Laws of Israel
The Basic Laws of Israel () are fourteen quasi-constitutional laws of the Israel, State of Israel, some of which can only be changed by a supermajority vote in the Knesset (with varying requirements for different Basic Laws and sections). Many of ...
. At the same time she was considered unforgiving to
white-collar crime
The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. The crimes are believed to be committed by middle- or upper-class indivi ...
. Toward the end of her career as a Justice she headed the
Israeli Central Elections Committee
The Israeli Central Elections Committee (, ''Va'adet HaBehirot HaMerkazit'') is the body charged under the Knesset Elections Law of 1969 to carry out the elections for the upcoming Knesset. The committee is composed of Knesset members (and dele ...
.
Dorner retired from the Supreme Court on March 3, 2004. In August 2006, she was appointed president of the Israeli Press Council. She teaches human rights law at the
Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''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 academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...
law faculty. She holds
Honorary Doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
s from the
Weizmann Institute of Science
The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...
(2005), and from the
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public university, public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli List of national founders, national founder David Ben-Gurion, the unive ...
(2008). She is an honorary member of the
American Law Institute
The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars limited to 3,000 elected members and established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and i ...
.
Landmark rulings
Dorner required the military authorities to allow personalized epitaphs on soldiers' headstones. Her ruling emphasized the individual versus the collective, observing that "every child is an only child to his parents."
She ruled that state must allocate adequate budgets to the Special Education Law to allow children with disabilities to be integrated into ordinary education frameworks.
In the
Jonathan Danilowitz
Jonathan Danilowitz (; 13 January 1945 – 12 August 2022) was an LGBT activist and former chairman of The Aguda–Israel’s LGBT Task Force. In 2020, he was awarded Tel Aviv’s Yakir Ha’ir in recognition of his struggle for lesbian, gay, b ...
case, she recognized the right of an
El Al
EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (), trading as EL AL (, "Upwards", "To the Skies", or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ) is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve ...
cabin attendant to receive a plane ticket for his homosexual partner.
Dorner’s broad interpretation of free expression was illustrated in her ruling in the case of Kidum, a
night school
A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates.
Italy
The scuol ...
, which was permitted to use an advertising slogan, "Go and excel!", which has vulgar sexual connotations previously deemed unacceptable.
Awards and honors
In 2010, Dorner was invited to light a torch at the
Israeli Independence Day
Yom Ha'atzmaut (, , ) is Israel's national day, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. It is marked by a variety of official and unofficial ceremonies and observances.
Because Israel declared independence on 14 ...
ceremony on
Mount Herzl
Mount Herzl ( ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside the Jerusalem Forest.
I ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorner, Dalia
1934 births
Living people
Israeli Jews
Turkish Jews
Israeli lawyers
Judges of the Supreme Court of Israel
Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University
Israeli women judges
Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Israeli people of Turkish-Jewish descent
Israeli women lawyers
Candidates for President of Israel