Miriam Ben-Porat
| Miriam Ben-Porat | |
|---|---|
Miriam Ben-Porat, 1983
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| Native name | מרים בן פורת |
| Born |
Miriam Shinezon April 26, 1918 Vitebsk, Russia |
| Died | July 26, 2012 (aged 94) |
| Citizenship | Israeli |
| Alma mater | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| Occupation | Supreme Court of Israel judge; State Comptroller of Israel |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards |
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Miriam Ben-Porat (Hebrew: מרים בן פורת, née Shinezon, 26 April 1918 – 26 July 2012) was an Israeli jurist. She was the first female appointed to the Supreme Court of Israel and the State Comptroller of Israel from 1988-1998.
Miriam Shinezon (Ben-Porat) was born in 1918 in Vitebsk, Belarus (then Russia), the youngest of three sisters and four brothers. She grew up in Lithuania, where her parents owned a textile factory. After finishing high school in 1936, she immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine by herself. Most of her family was murdered in the Holocaust. In the Yishuv, she changed her name to Ben-Porat. She was one of the first women to study law at the Hebrew University, and in 1945 she was admitted to the bar.
In 1949 she began to work in the State Attorney's office, and by 1953 she became the deputy State Attorney. In 1959 she was appointed as a judge in the Jerusalem District Court. Her swearing-in ceremony was boycotted by the Israeli Bar Association. Only following a public scandal, an apology was arranged between her and the Jerusalem Chamber of Advocates.
By 1975, she became the President of the Jerusalem District Court. From 1964 through 1978, she was also a professor at the Hebrew University, specializing in contracts and commercial notes. She was the only faculty member without a doctorate.
In 1977, she became the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court. In 1988, upon reaching the retirement age for judges, she was elected by the Knesset to be the State Comptroller. She was the first woman to serve in this position. After five years, she was reelected.
In 1990, she published a report on the Israeli water system that led to the dismissal of the water commissioner.She also criticized government procedures for absorbing immigrants from the former Soviet Union; and the investigation of policemen accused of wrongdoing, which led to the establishment of the Justice Ministry police investigation unit.
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