Today in 1965, Shimon Agranat became president of the Supreme Court.
Agranat was born in Kentucky, USA, to a Zionist family, and immigrated to Israel in the 30s after receiving a degree in philosophy from the prestigious University of Chicago. Agranat became a lawyer, jurist, and law professor, and by the end of 1948 he had become the first new Supreme Court judge (i.e., not one of the original five). Agranat became the Chief Justice in 1965, and served for 11 years; during his years in office he wrote the rulings for some of the most important judgments in Israel’s history, including the death sentence on Eichmann, and Kastner’s acquittal on his appeal. Apart from these, Agranat was chairman of 2 committees, both called ‘The Agranat Committee’: The first of which was established after the Yom Kippur war in 1973-74 to clarify the military defaults, and was of great political influence; the lesser known but important (especially today) was convened in 1962, and dealt with the definition of the role of the Attorney General. Egranat died in 1992, and is considered one of the greatest Israeli jurists of all time, with his actions, rulings and considerations having had a long-standing effect.
Photo Source: Wikipedia
