25 Facts About Yosef Elron

Joseph Elron is an Israeli judge who has served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Israel since 2017.

Yosef Elron was born in Haifa, the youngest of nine children born to Ovadia and Tzadika Alfarih, Iraqi Jewish immigrants to Israel originally from Mosul.

Yosef Elron worked in various security organizations from 1977 to 1980 and studied law at the University of Buckingham.

Yosef Elron completed a Master of Arts in National Security Administration at the University of Haifa in 2001.

In February 2017, Yosef Elron was appointed a Supreme Court Justice.

Particularly, Justice Yosef Elron ruled that police forces must avoid using excessive force while performing riot control against demonstrators.

Similarly, Yosef Elron criticized the use of prosecutorial authority in cases he deemed inappropriate for the criminal process.

For example, in a case involving the prosecution of beggars near the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, Yosef Elron dissented from the majority opinion that approved the government's actions, and argued that the criminal process is inappropriate for such cases and the government should solve the issue in other ways.

Yosef Elron sided with the child of an occupier of an Amidar-Public-Housing unit, who was denied the right to continue living in his childhood home.

Yosef Elron expressed the existential place that a house, especially one lived in for long time, has in a person's life.

Yosef Elron was among the judges who ordered the Ministry of Education to subsidize school-transportation for children with special needs, citing the duty that the public and the state owe to the integration of persons with special needs in the general public sphere.

Yosef Elron set on the panel that adjudication a civil action by Yemani Jewish families, who argued that their children were taken away from them by the Israeli government in the early years of the state, and demanded compensation.

Yosef Elron stated that such programs allow members of the Ultra-Orthodox to take part in higher education, in a manner which will facilitate their participation in the labor sector and in society at large.

Yosef Elron chaired a committee that examined the interactions between judges and attorneys in legal proceedings relating to criminal investigations, before indicting a suspect.

Yosef Elron was the sole judge who thought that such challenges should be allowed, arguing that criminal prosecution should not be treated differently than other administrative actions.

Yosef Elron was the sole dissenter, arguing that defense counsel should be present in such proceedings, while the majority ruled that only the prosecution should be present in them.

Furthermore, Yosef Elron argued that search of electronic devices should only be done by warrant, and even the owner's consent cannot cure a warrantless search.

In yet another case, Judge Yosef Elron criticized the prosecution for not transferring all relevant investigative materials to the defendant.

Yosef Elron ruled that such misconduct might justify granting the defendant permission to withdraw his confession to the offenses attributed to him.

Yosef Elron argued that the courts should yield to the legislature's decision to differentiate between the two types of murder, and that the "aggravating circumstances" should not be interpreted too broadly so as to include virtually any murder.

Additionally, Yosef Elron stressed that the court should avoid practicing judicial review in disputes between the legislative and executive branches, and at any rate, not intervene before allowing an adequate opportunity to resolve such disputes amicably.

Yosef Elron argued that despite his age, the perpetrator should be sent to prison, and not only receive probation.

Similarly, Yosef Elron fiercely denounced violence against females, ruling that offenders should be sentenced to lengthy prison times.

In one case, Justice Yosef Elron ruled that the Court should not overturn the Attorney General's decision not to prosecute General Security Services Interrogators for torture.

Justice Yosef Elron rejected a petition against the Foreign Ministry's policy to allow leaders who allegedly participated in crimes against humanity and war crimes to visit at Yad Vashem Museum.