Yitzhak Zamir (; born in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

on April 15, 1931) is a professor of public law and Dean of 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. ...

's Faculty of Law, a former

Attorney General of Israel The attorney general of Israel (, ''Ha-Yo'etz Ha-Mishpati La-Memshala'', ) heads the legal system of the executive branch and the public prosecution of the state. The attorney general advises the government in legal matters, represents the stat ...

, first Dean of 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 ...

's Law Faculty, and a former Judge 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 ...

Biography

Zamir was born in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in Poland on April 15, 1931, and immigrated with his parents to Palestine at the age of three. Zamir was educated in

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; , / ) is an affluent List of Israeli cities, city in the Israeli coastal plain, central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it had a populatio ...

before serving in the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...

. When finishing his military service, Zamir went to study economics and political science. Later Zamir changed his major to law at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli 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. It is the second-ol ...

. Zamir did his internship at the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

under the supervision of

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

Yoel Zussman (later Chief Justice). In 1959 Zamir received his license to practice law. Zamir received his doctorate certificate from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Zamir taught public law at the Hebrew University, becoming dean of the law faculty in the years 1975–1978. From 1978 to 1986 Zamir served as the Israeli

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. During this period, Zamir is remembered for his fight to investigate the GSS during the

Kav 300 affair The Bus 300 affair (), also known as Kav 300 affair, was a 1984 incident in which Shin Bet members executed two Palestinian bus hijackers, immediately after the hostage crisis incident ended and they had been captured. After the incident the Sh ...

, after two terrorists caught alive were secretly

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

ed by GSS officer Ehud Yatom (brother of

Danny Yatom Danny Yatom (; born 15 March 1945) is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Labor. In 1996–1998, Yatom was head of the Mossad and between 1999 and 2001, he served as Prime Minister Ehud Barak's Chief Of Staff an ...

). Zamir demanded from

Moshe Arens Moshe Arens (; 27 December 1925 – 7 January 2019) was an Israeli aeronautical engineer, researcher, diplomat, and Likud politician. A member of the Knesset between 1973 and 1992 and again from 1999 until 2003, he served as Minister of Defense ...

, then Minister of Defense, to appoint a committee to investigate the accusations. On May 18, 1986, Zamir demanded to prosecute Avraham Shalom, head of the GSS. Prime Minister

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

refused and removed Zamir from office, replacing him with Joseph Harish. In the Years 1988-1991 Zamir was president of the Journalist Council. In December 1991, Zamir quit his job claiming that he is not trusted and has not authority, as he had no power to place sanctions over journalists who broke the ethical code. In 1991 Zamir was appointed as the first Dean of the newly established Faculty of Law in the

, and served there until 1994. In 1994 he was appointed as a Supreme Court Judge until the year 2001, when reached the age of 70. In 2001 he was head of the Jerusalem Center for Ethics, and between 2003 and 2007 was head of the committee in charge of creating ethical rules for the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

members. He is the uncle of Asaf Zamir, Israeli politician and diplomat.

Awards

* In 1986, Zamir was awarded the Tzeltner's Award for the research of law. * In 1986, he received the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award. * In 1997, he 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 law (1997). * In 2014, he was awarded the

Emet Prize The EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture is an Israeli prize awarded annually for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far-reaching influence and make a significant contribution to society. Prizes are awarded in the fo ...

for excellence in law.

Biography

Awards

References

See also