The Right in Israel has always railed against the country’s Supreme Court, accusing it of constraining the army and favoring Palestinian rights over settler ambitions. For those most vociferous supporters of the occupation in Palestine, Israel’s highest court is guilty of “judicial activism.” When Jewish Home politician Moti Yogev urged that the Supreme Court should be razed by a D9 tractor, he summed up the position of many on the Israeli right.

At the same time, the Supreme Court is often celebrated as a bastion of Israel’s liberalism, a shining example of the nation’s democracy in an undemocratic region. Meir Shamgar, the court’s chief justice between 1983 and 1995, is particularly revered for his key role in it. In the aftermath of his death last month, President Ruvi Rivlin described Shamgar as one of “the founding fathers of the Israeli judicial system” — and indeed he was. Before serving in Israel’s top court for twenty years, Shamgar had held key positions as military advocate general for the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and later as attorney general. His career is also notable for heading the inquiry into the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.