Michael Ben-Yair

Ben-Yair is identified as a native of Nahalat Shimon, a Jerusalem neighborhood near the grave of Shimon HaTzadik.[2] His family lived in the area before Israel's founding, and the community's leadership demanded that the Ben-Yair family and other Jewish families leave their homes in January 1948, during the War of Independence.[2]

Before becoming Attorney General, Ben-Yair served as a judge on the Tel Aviv District Court.[3] During the evidentiary stage of one case, he received a temporary appointment to the Supreme Court, then returned to the District Court; the evidence concluded in 1992.[3] Written arguments were filed in 1993, but Ben-Yair was appointed Attorney General before he could issue a judgment.[3] Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar subsequently instructed that Ben-Yair could not write judgments in cases involving the state, and the case was transferred to another judge.[3]

Ben-Yair served as Attorney General from 1993 to 1997.[1] His years in office were eventful and at times contentious, as he navigated a series of high-profile prosecution decisions that drew both public criticism and judicial scrutiny.

In August 1995, Ben-Yair ordered police to investigate the leaders of Zo Artzeinu, a movement that had been established in the early 1990s to protest the Oslo Accords.[9] The inquiry concerned alleged incitement to rebellion and preventing police from performing their duties.[9] In his letter authorizing the investigation, Ben-Yair cited public order as "a value that must be protected in a democratic regime" and warned that continued disturbances could lead to anarchy and undermine democratic life.[9] The movement's leaders, Moshe Feiglin and Shmuel Sackett, were ultimately convicted of sedition.[9]

Several of Ben-Yair's prosecution decisions proved controversial. He decided there was no public interest in prosecuting MK Avner Shaki, a ruling the High Court of Justice overturned with strong criticism—though State Attorney Edna Arbel later approved the decision again.[5] He also indicted Lieutenant Yehoshua Shadiel for causing death through negligence, a move described as unprecedented because it overruled the Military Advocate General; the military and others argued the decision could affect soldiers' activities.[5] His decision not to indict former Police Commissioner Rafi Peled drew criticism from the High Court as well, though it was not reversed.[5] Ben-Yair also decided to indict Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert.[5]

Allegations of political favoritism arose after Yaakov Ne'eman became justice minister, with Ne'eman accusing Ben-Yair of treating political figures associated with Labor differently from those associated with Likud.[5] Ben-Yair responded by holding a press conference and presenting prosecution data to demonstrate the objectivity of his decisions.[5] When the question of prosecuting Ne'eman arose, Ben-Yair transferred the decision to State Attorney Edna Arbel, who decided to indict Ne'eman.[5] Associates of Ne'eman alleged a connection between the prosecution and personal animosity, though this was reported as a claim rather than an established finding.[5]

Ben-Yair announced his resignation as Attorney General on December 3, 1996, with the resignation to take effect January 1, 1997.[4] He told Justice Minister Tzachi Hanegbi that he no longer wished to hold the post. Personal attacks, his belief that he had exhausted the role, and his awareness that replacement candidates were already under consideration were reported as factors in his decision.[4]

His departure became a central element in the Bar-On affair. Israeli police reported that Aryeh Deri, then in the midst of a three-year corruption trial, viewed Ben-Yair's resignation as an opportunity to bypass existing appointment procedures and secure an Attorney General who would offer him a plea bargain.[6] Deri reportedly threatened that Shas would not support the Hebron redeployment agreement unless his preferred candidate for Attorney General was appointed.[6] Prime Minister Netanyahu chose Roni Bar-On, whom Deri apparently believed would be amenable to a plea bargain.[6] When legal scholars protested that Bar-On was unqualified for the role, Bar-On resigned the following day.[6]

After leaving office, Ben-Yair focused on arbitration and mediation work, with a reported fee of $400 per hour.[10] In 2002, he resigned from an arbitration appointment after publicly supporting people who refused military service in the territories.[10] Globes also characterized his post-government professional opportunities as limited by an informal, unorganized boycott among leading lawyers.[10]

Ben-Yair continued to engage in public debate on legal and constitutional matters. In 2017, he publicly supported demonstrations in Petah Tikva and questioned why they had initially been barred.[11] He argued that the Attorney General is part of the executive branch and therefore subject to public and judicial scrutiny, and stated that the Attorney General "must never avail himself, even by inaction," of police action against the freedom to demonstrate.[11]

In December 2022, Ben-Yair co-founded the Civic Democratic Movement with Professor Uriel Procaccia. It was described as a non-partisan movement opposing the emerging government. The initiative was presented in the context of broader warnings by Israeli jurists about perceived threats to democracy and the rule of law. Around the same time, he was among 78 retired judges who signed an open letter opposing the incoming government's planned judicial reforms, warning that the proposed legislative changes could erode citizens' rights and eliminate checks and balances on government power.[8] A 2008 NGO Monitor report listed him among the members of Yesh Din's Public Council.[12]

Several of Ben-Yair's public statements have generated significant controversy. In a March 2002 op-ed published in Haaretz titled "The seventh day of the war," he characterized the Palestinian intifada as "a war of national liberation" and described Israeli settlement and land policies as establishing "an apartheid regime," writing that "We Israelis enthusiastically chose to become a colonialist society."[13][14] These characterizations are politically contested and were later cited critically by CAMERA.[13]

Ben-Yair returned to the apartheid characterization in a 2022 opinion piece, arguing that the absence of a peace process and a political horizon, combined with what he described as a government-backed one-state agenda, had produced two distinct legal regimes on either side of the Green Line.[7] He stated that his assessment would differ if the government supported a two-state solution.[7]

A separate controversy arose over Ben-Yair's position on the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood. A 2021 report noted that his own family had been forced to leave homes there during the War of Independence in January 1948, yet he later recommended that the government remove Jews from the same area.[2] He reasoned that if Arabs could not return to homes they had occupied before 1948, Jews should not be able to return to theirs either—a position that drew sharp criticism from those who regarded the neighborhood as historically Jewish.[2]