Justice Elyakim Rubinstein

Justice Elyakim Rubinstein was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court in 2004. In 2015, he was appointed as Deputy President of the Supreme Court, a position he held until 2017.

Prior to his role as a Supreme Court Justice, from 1997-2003, Justice Rubinstein served as the Attorney General of Israel where he participated in negotiations with Syria (1999-2000), in the Camp David Summit (2000), and as the head of the Israeli delegation to numerous conferences about intolerance and antisemitism (2001-2003).

Justice Rubinstein previously served as Government Secretary for four different governments.  He headed the legal team working with the US government and Congressional officials concerning the investigation into the Iran-Contra affair. He also headed negotiation teams on the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United States and the Government of Israel on Strategic Cooperation, and negotiations on various legal issues in the field of defense. He was the head of the Israeli delegation that negotiated with the Jordanian-Palestinian delegation in Madrid and Washington and head of the Israeli delegation for negotiations on the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty. He served as the first chairman of the Israel Anti-Drug Authority, and as the first chairman of the Government Forum to Monitor Anti-Semitism.

Earlier in his career, Justice Rubinstein worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Director-General, Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Minister (Deputy Chief of Mission) in Washington, D.C. As part of his diplomatic service, he participated in the negotiations on the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty at Camp David and Washington in 1978-1979, and later on negotiations on normalization of the relations with Egypt and on Palestinian autonomy. He was responsible for the office of implementing the Peace Treaty with Egypt. In addition, he participated in negotiations with Lebanon on the 1983 Agreement, and in negotiations on strategic cooperation with the United States, with the personal title of Ambassador.

Justice Rubinstein graduated cum laude from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, with Bachelor’s degrees in Hebrew Language and Arabic Literature and Language in 1967 and in Law in 1969. He Obtained a Master’s degree cum laude in Contemporary Jewry in 1974.

Justice Rubinstein is married to Miriam, Former Deputy State Attorney. They were blessed with four daughters and fourteen grandchildren. Their oldest daughter Sari, who represented the Foreign Ministry in refugee matters, succumbed to cancer in 2016.