Judge Miriam Ben Porat has become the first woman to serve on Israel’s Supreme Court. President Ephraim Katzir appointed her and Judge Shimshon Asher to the highest judicial body to succeed retired Justices Dr. Shimon Agranat and Zvi Berinson. Mrs. Ben Porat was born in Russia, and immigrated in 1936. She worked in the Justice Ministry in 1948 and later became Deputy State Attorney. She served on the Jerusalem District Court bench since 1958 and was its president since 1975.
After her appointment she expressed confidence that other women will follow her to the Supreme Court. But. Ben Porat added, she did not see herself as a representative of women in the court, just as the men did not sit on the bench in the service of men only. “All of us are here in the service of justice.” she said. Asher, who immigrated from Poland in 1933, was Deputy State Attorney from 1949 to 1952. He was also a District Court judge in Tel Aviv.
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