My Trip to the Israeli Supreme Court

Touring the Supreme Court of Israel

My name is Sophia Schwartz and I am a public relations major, on a pre-law track, at the University of Florida. While spending the summer abroad in Tel Aviv, I have been interning at Cohen, Decker, Pex and Brosh law offices and have come to learn a lot about Israel’s democracy. Taking a trip to the Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem really contributed to all of the knowledge that I acquired during these past 9 weeks.?

After arriving at the supreme court, my fellow interns and I were guided through the building and there were already countless details that differed from the US Supreme Court. From the architecture, to the structure, to the overall atmosphere, there were plenty of things that surprised me about the Israeli Supreme Court.?

The atmosphere?

As soon as we entered through security I was mesmerized by the calmness throughout the court. Usually, in America, courts are crowded, loud, and hectic; however, here it was just the opposite. This is because it's summer break, plus COVID-19 - it's not so quiet all the time. There were little to no people roaming around the halls, and a majority of the court rooms were empty. This shocked me as it is very different from the US courts.?

The architecture?

Similarly, the architecture of the court fascinated me as well. The walls were made out of the same stone that the Western Wall is made out of, and each aspect of the architecture has a deeper meaning. Our tour guide briefly discussed the meanings of the amount of stairs there were, the mirrors that were aligned against the edge of the floor, and the ceiling structure as well.?

The structure?

Lastly, the most shocking detail of my visit to the Israeli Supreme Court was the difference in the actual court systems between Israel and the US. Being that both America and Israel have democratic governments, it was surprising to me how different the judicial systems are.?

One of the several differences between the Israeli Supreme Court and the American Supreme Court is the amount of judges that there are. In Israel, there are 15 supreme court justices who rotate in groups of three on each case; this is to ensure that there is no bias and that there are multiple perspectives when deciding the verdict of a case. In America, there are only nine appointed supreme court justices and they do not have this same rotation process, instead there is a jury. This ratio is even more shocking due to the fact that in Israel there are nearly 10,000 cases that are seen in the supreme court, while in the US there are only 200.?

Another difference includes the retiring age for these supreme court justices. In the US, they serve until they die, however in Israel they must retire at the age of 70. On our tour we learned that when a judge retires, they are still given the option to keep an office in the supreme court and help out with other tasks. This is extremely common if the judge has another title or position as well.?

Overall takeaway

After learning firsthand about all the Israeli Supreme Court has to offer, it is clear that it is a high-functioning and efficient court system that varies from the US way more than I thought. It was extremely intriguing to learn about the structure of the court system and I am eager to continue to learn more and share it with you!?