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David Libai

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David Libai
Libai in 1992
Ministerial roles
1992–1996Minister of Justice
1995Minister of the Interior
Faction represented in the Knesset
1984–1991Alignment
1991–1996Labor Party
Personal details
Born(1934-10-22)22 October 1934
Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine
Died23 December 2023(2023-12-23) (aged 89)
NationalityIsraeli
Political partyLabor

David Libai (Hebrew: דוד ליבאי‎; 22 October 1934 – 23 December 2023) was an Israeli jurist and politician. He was a member of the Knesset for Labor from 1984 to 1996 and served as minister of justice from 1992 to 1996.

Biography

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David Libai was born on 22 October 1934 in Tel Aviv.[1] He attended Ironi Alef High School and studied law at the Hebrew University in the academic reserve program of the Israel Defense Forces. He received his MA from the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Law in Tel Aviv University (where he served as dean of students) and his PhD from University of Chicago Law School. He served as deputy chief military prosecutor and was discharged as a major.[2][3]

Libai was married and was the father of Daniel and Daphne.[3] He died on 24 December 2023, at the age of 89.[4][5]

Political and public career

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Libai began his professional career in the office of Minister of Justice Pinchas Rosen, in charge of the amnesty department and as spokesman for the Ministry. In 1960 he was certified as a lawyer. He was appointed chief assistant to attorney-general Colin Gillon and chief prosecutor of the state workers' disciplinary court.[3]

In 1964, he opened a private law office. In 1977 he became chairman of the Labor Party's constitution committee.[3] From 1983 to 1985 he was head of the Israeli Bar. He has also been a member of the National inquiry commission on prison conditions, member of the Press Council, and chairman of the Israel-Britain Parliamentary Friendship Association. He was an associate professor at Tel Aviv University and the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center.[2]

In 1984, he was elected to the eleventh Knesset for the Alignment. In the eleventh and twelfth Knessets he was chairman of the State Control Committee and a member of the House, Constitution and Law and Justice Committee (of which he was also a member in the fourteenth Knesset). During his tenure, the State Control Committee appointed the Bejski Commission to investigate the bank stock crisis of 1983.[3]

After he was elected to the thirteenth Knesset for the Labor Party, he was appointed Minister of Justice by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He also held this position under Shimon Peres, following Rabin's assassination. For a brief period in 1995 he was also Interior Minister. As Minister of Justice, he initiated three national inquiry commissions: concerning the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre, the Yemenite Children Affair, and Rabin's assassination. He resigned from the Knesset in 1996.[3]

Private law practice

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In 1997, he was hired to defend Samuel Sheinbein, an Israeli-American who fled the United States and sought Israeli citizenship after committing murder.[6] He successfully convinced the Israeli Supreme Court that Sheinbein was entitled to the protections of Israeli citizenship and could thus not be extradited to the United States.[7] After the Supreme Court's decision in February 1999, Libai stated, "Our Supreme Court once again proved that it is independent and did not yield to political pressure from the United States", before adding that Israel's extradition laws were flawed and should be amended.[8]

In 2006, he represented former Comverse Technology CEO Kobi Alexander.[9] He also represented former Israeli President Moshe Katsav against rape charges, but later resigned as his attorney, claiming he had taken the case only when he believed it was a blackmail attempt.[10][11]

Awards and recognition

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Libai was the recipient of the Pinchas Rosen Award for his legal studies.[12] In 2005, he received an ethics awards from Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Knesset Member, David Libai". Knesset. Archived from the original (Archived by the Wayback Machine) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "David Libai". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 17 April 2001. Archived from the original on 28 February 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "David Libay, Law Office". News1 (in Hebrew). 21 January 2005. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  4. ^ "שר המשפטים לשעבר דוד ליבאי הלך לעולמו בגיל 89". Ynet. 24 December 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Former Israeli justice minister David Libai passes away at 89". The Jerusalem Post. 24 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  6. ^ Dina Kraft, "Samuel Sheinbein Sentenced to 24 Years", Washington Post, 24 October 1999.
  7. ^ Lee Hockstader; Craig Whitlock (25 October 1999). "Israeli Court Sentences Sheinbein to 24 Years". Washington Post.
  8. ^ Laura Blumenfeld; Katherine Shaver (26 February 1999). "Sheinbein Can't Be Extradited". Washington Post. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  9. ^ Ben-Yair, Arnon (3 October 2006). דוד ליבאי: קובי אלכסנדר לא חזר לארה"ב מאחר שנתקף פניקה [David Libai: Kobi Alexander did not return to the US because he panicked]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  10. ^ Amiram Barkat; Yuval Yoaz (23 January 2007). "Katsav attorney: President will fulfill promise, suspend himself". Haaretz. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  11. ^ Yuval Yoaz; Arnon Ben Yair (4 February 2007). "Avigdor Feldman chosen to replace Libai as Katsav lawyer". Haaretz. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  12. ^ "⁨פוס' קוו חזן — ⁨⁨מעריב⁩ 21 מרץ 1977⁩ — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים". www.nli.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  13. ^ פרס אתיקה לעו"ד דוד ליבאי [Ethics awards to David Libai] (in Hebrew). Arutz Sheva. 26 October 2005. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
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