# Ministry of Justice (Israel)

The Justice Ministry (Hebrew: מִשְׂרָד הַמִשְׁפָּטִים, Misrad HaMishpatim; Arabic: وزارة العدل) is the Israeli government ministry that oversees the Israeli judicial system.

## History

The office was established with the establishment of the Provisional Government in 1948. The first minister who headed it was Pinchas Rosen, and at the beginning of his career he had only three employees. The first goal of the office was to create continuity in the activity of the essential legal institutions during the transition period from British rule. In particular, there was a need to fill the positions of judges in the courts, as the British and Arab judges left. The appointment of the first judges of the Supreme Court in its incarnation as an Israeli court was approved by the Provisional Government and the Provisional Council of State in July of that year. In 1948, the Office of the General Custodian was also staffed.
Another goal that stood before the eyes of the heads of the ministry in the early years of the State of Israel was the formation of Israeli laws that would replace the Ottoman and Mandatory legal systems. However, the connection to British law was severed only in 1980, with the enactment of the Law on the Foundations of Law, which repealed a section of the King's Word in the Council on the Land of Israel that stated that where provisions were not established in the local law, the courts would rule according to common law and the laws of honesty. Also, even nowadays, more than 70 years after the establishment of the State of Israel, laws enacted by the mandatory legislature or new versions of such laws (such as the Torts Ordinance, the Evidence Ordinance or the Municipalities Ordinance) remain in force. The last piece of Ottoman legislation, the Majela, was abolished in 1984.
In 1949 the office consisted of three main departments: consulting, legislation and advocacy. The office also included the administrative departments: land registrar, general guardian and general registrar. 506 employees worked in the office. In April 1949, the prosecutor's office and the general registrar moved to Jerusalem.

## List of ministers

The Justice Minister (Hebrew: שַׂר הַמִשְׁפָּטִים, Sar HaMishpatim) is the political head of the ministry. Unlike other ministries, there has never been a Deputy Minister.
| # | Minister | Party | Government | Term start | Term end | Notes |
| 1 | Pinchas Rosen | Progressive Party | P, 1, 2 | 14 May 1948 | 8 October 1951 | |
| 2 | Dov Yosef | Mapai | 3 | 8 October 1951 | 25 June 1952 | |
| 3 | Haim Cohn | Not an MK | 3 | 25 June 1952 | 24 December 1952 | |
| – | Pinchas Rosen | Progressive Party | 4, 5, 6, 7 | 24 December 1952 | 13 February 1956 | |
| 4 | David Ben-Gurion | Mapai | 7 | 13 February 1956 | 28 February 1956 | Serving Prime Minister |
| – | Pinchas Rosen | Progressive Party, Liberal Party | 7, 8, 9 | 28 February 1956 | 2 November 1961 | |
| – | Dov Yosef | Mapai | 10, 11, 12 | 2 November 1961 | 12 January 1966 | |
| 5 | Ya'akov Shimshon Shapira | Mapai | 13, 14, 15 | 12 January 1966 | 13 June 1972 | |
| – | Ya'akov Shimshon Shapira | Mapai | 15 | 12 September 1972 | 1 November 1973 | |
| 6 | Haim Yosef Zadok | Alignment | 16, 17 | 10 March 1974 | 20 June 1977 | |
| 7 | Menachem Begin | Likud | 18 | 20 June 1977 | 24 October 1977 | Serving Prime Minister |
| 8 | Shmuel Tamir | Democratic Movement for Change | 18 | 20 June 1977 | 5 August 1980 | |
| 9 | Moshe Nissim | Likud | 18, 19, 20, 21 | 13 August 1980 | 16 April 1986 | |
| 10 | Yitzhak Moda'i | Likud | 21 | 16 April 1986 | 23 July 1986 | |
| 11 | Avraham Sharir | Likud | 21, 22 | 30 July 1986 | 22 December 1988 | |
| 12 | Dan Meridor | Likud | 23, 24 | 22 December 1988 | 13 July 1992 | |
| 13 | David Libai | Labor | 25, 26 | 13 July 1992 | 18 June 1996 | |
| 14 | Yaakov Neeman | Not an MK | 27 | 18 June 1996 | 10 August 1996 | |
| 15 | Benjamin Netanyahu | Likud | 27 | 18 June 1996 | 4 September 1996 | Serving Prime Minister |
| 16 | Tzachi Hanegbi | Likud | 27 | 4 September 1996 | 6 July 1999 | |
| 17 | Yossi Beilin | One Israel | 28 | 6 July 1999 | 7 March 2001 | |
| 18 | Meir Sheetrit | Likud | 29 | 7 March 2001 | 28 February 2003 | |
| 19 | Tommy Lapid | Shinui | 30 | 28 February 2003 | 4 December 2004 | |
| 20 | Tzipi Livni | Likud, Kadima | 30 | 5 December 2004 | 4 May 2006 | |
| 21 | Haim Ramon | Kadima | 31 | 4 May 2006 | 22 August 2006 | |
| – | Meir Sheetrit | Kadima | 31 | 23 August 2006 | 29 November 2006 | acting |
| – | Tzipi Livni | Kadima | 31 | 29 November 2006 | 7 February 2007 | |
| 22 | Daniel Friedmann | Not an MK | 31 | 7 February 2007 | 31 March 2009 | |
| – | Yaakov Neeman | Not an MK | 32 | 31 March 2009 | 18 March 2013 | |
| – | Tzipi Livni | Hatnuah | 33 | 18 March 2013 | 4 December 2014 | |
| 23 | Ayelet Shaked | The Jewish Home, New Right | 34 | 14 May 2015 | 2 June 2019 | |
| 24 | Amir Ohana | Likud | 34 | 5 June 2019 | 17 May 2020 | |
| 25 | Avi Nissenkorn | Israel Resilience Party, Blue and White | 35 | 17 May 2020 | 1 January 2021 | |
| – | Benny Gantz | Israel Resilience Party, Blue and White | 35 | 1 January 2021 | 1 April 2021 | acting |
| 26 | Benny Gantz | Israel Resilience Party, Blue and White | 35 | 28 April 2021 | 13 June 2021 | |
| 27 | Gideon Sa'ar | New Hope | 36 | 13 June 2021 | 29 December 2022 | |
| 28 | Yariv Levin | Likud | 37 | 29 December 2022 | | |