Moshe Bar-Am (

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 ...

: משה בר-עם; born 1960) is an Israeli

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

who serves as a judge on the

Jerusalem District Court The Jerusalem District Court () is located in the Jerusalem District of Israel. It was originally established by the Mandatory Palestine government and has continued its operations under the judicial system of the State of Israel since its establ ...

since August 2012. He is one of the judges presiding over the

trial of Benjamin Netanyahu The trial of Benjamin Netanyahu, also known as the Netanyahu-Elovitch-Mozes Trial or the Publisher's Trial, began following investigations into allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust by him and close political allies within his i ...

, alongside Judges Rivka Friedman-Feldman and Oded Shaham.

Biography

Bar-Am was born in

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 ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in 1960 under the name Moshe Ben-Hamo. He completed his secondary education in 1978 at Denmark High School, located at

Katamon Katamon or Qatamon (; ; ; from the Ancient Greek ), officially known as Gonen (; mainly used in municipal publications), is a neighborhood in south-central Jerusalem. It is built next to an old Greek Orthodox monastery, believed to have been cons ...

, Jerusalem. Following high school, he enlisted in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

(IDF), serving as an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

until 1982.

Education

In 1990, Bar-Am earned a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LL.B.) degree from 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. ...

, and was admitted to the

Israel Bar Association Israel Bar Association (; IBA) is the bar association for all Israeli lawyers. History The Israel Bar Association was established by The Bar Association Law, 1961. The law went into effect in March 1962. The Association is organized as a cor ...

in November 1991. In 2006, he earned a

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

(LL.M.) degree with honors at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

Career

From 1991 to 1994, Bar-Am worked as an attorney. He then became an independent

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

from 1994 to 1998. During this time, he pursued studies in public administration at

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In August 1998, Bar-Am was appointed registrar of the Beersheba Magistrate Court. Two years later, in August 2000, he was appointed as a judge on the Israeli Southern District Magistrate Court.

Jerusalem District Court

In August 2012, Bar-Am became a judge at the Jerusalem District Court. Although he dealt with relatively few corruption and economic cases, he was considered an expert in serious criminal matters. One of the most notable cases he presided over was the trial of Daniel Nachmani, who was convicted of the murder of Noa Eyal 21 years after the crime occurred. Bar-Am also presided over the Bibitors affair (פרשת ביביטורס) involving Netanyahu lawsuit against Israeli journalist

Raviv Drucker Raviv Drucker (; born September 11, 1970) is an Israeli journalist, political commentator and investigative reporter. Journalistic career Early years Drucker began his journalistic career as a general reporter, and later on a real-estate and inf ...

. In May 2020, Bar-Am was appointed as a judge at the

Trial of Benjamin Netanyahu The trial of Benjamin Netanyahu, also known as the Netanyahu-Elovitch-Mozes Trial or the Publisher's Trial, began following investigations into allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust by him and close political allies within his i ...

at the Jerusalem District Court, alongside jurists Rivka Friedman-Feldman and Oded Shaham.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bar-Am, Moshe Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni People from Jerusalem Israeli lawyers 1960 births Living people Israeli jurists