Former Supreme Court chief justice Miriam Naor dead at 74
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Former Supreme Court chief justice Miriam Naor died on Monday at age 74. The cause of death was not immediately clear.
Naor, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2003, served as head of Israel’s top court from 2015 to 2017, when she retired.
In recent months, Naor was serving as head of the state commission of inquiry into last year’s Meron disaster, during which 45 people were killed in a crush at a religious festival, in the worst civilian disaster in Israel’s history. It was not immediately clear how the state commission will move forward; initial reports indicated that Supreme Court Chief Esther Hayut is expected to select a new chair for the committee in the coming days.
The Judicial Authority said in a statement that it was “shocked with grief and pain” at news of Naor’s death.
Naor was born in Jerusalem in 1947, and received her law degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 1980 she was appointed as a judge on the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, at age 33, and in 1988 she became a judge in the Jerusalem District Court.
Upon retiring after 38 years in the justice system, Naor urged Israel to safeguard its democratic nature.
Then-Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, August 31, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
“Even today, as the decades have passed and I have served in all the courts, I am grateful that my path led me to being a judge,” she said during her parting speech.
“The State of Israel can be proud of the independence of its judiciary, who fear nothing but the law,” Naor said. “Judicial independence, however, should not be taken for granted. We must protect it. If we do not protect democracy, democracy will not protect us.”
An array of politicians and government officials expressed sorrow at Naor’s sudden death.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called Naor a “respected jurist” who was always “careful to maintain the required balance between the variety of values in Israeli society, and to strengthen the national and Zionist character of the State of Israel.”
“Above all, she was a person of the people,” said Bennett. “She treated every individual with respect and made sure to use her words calmly.”
Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Naor for her “deep commitment to the State of Israel and the world of law, to which she contributed so much throughout her life.”
President Isaac Herzog said Naor “will be remembered in Israeli history as the queen of justice and as one of the titans of Israeli law — a wise, knowledgeable, sensitive, strong, and independent woman, who remained modest even as she sat on the highest courts in the land.”
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, right, with Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor at the Ministry of Justice in Jerusalem, February 22, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)
Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Naor was “a judge with every fiber of her being” and “an excellent judge and jurist, analytical, thorough, hardworking, and in control of details.”
Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, a former justice minister, called Naor “a beloved friend,” who did not “leave a stone unturned” in her pursuit of justice. “Thank you for dedicating your life to the State of Israel,” said Shaked. “Your work will be etched forever in the annals of the State of Israel.”
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said Naor was “an exemplary figure, a beacon of justice, wisdom and values, whose contribution to the world of law was invaluable.”
Naor is survived by her husband, Arye, and her sons, Michael and Naftali.
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