Global Legal Information

Supreme Court of Israel

The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court consists of 15 judges appointed by the President of Israel, upon nomination by the Judicial Selection Committee. Once appointed, Judges serve until retirement at the age of 70 unless they resign or are removed from office. The Court is situated in Jerusalem's Givat Ram governmental campus, about half a kilometer from Israel's legislature, the Knesset. By the principle of binding precedent (''stare decisis''), Supreme Court rulings are binding upon every other court, except itself. Over the years, it has ruled on numerous sensitive issues, some of which relate to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the rights of Arab citizens, and discrimination between Jewish groups in Israel.

When ruling as the High Court of Justice (, also known as its acronym Bagatz, ), the court rules on the legality of decisions of State authorities: government decisions, those of local authorities and other bodies and persons performing public functions under the law, and direct challenges to the constitutionality of laws enacted by the Knesset. The court may review actions by state authorities outside of Israel.

Yitzhak Amit is the President of the Supreme Court since 13 February 2025, with Noam Sohlberg as Deputy President since 10 April 2025. The Supreme Court has been a main focus of incumbent Justice Minister Yariv Levin, with an attempt in 2023 to limit the power of the Supreme Court failing and Levin refusing to meet Amit since 2025 in what has been branded as a constitutional crisis. Provided by Wikipedia