Yael Willner יעל וילנר
Religious Zionist justice from Haifa whose path from civil and family-law practice through the district bench to the Supreme Court reflects the integration of observant Jewish women into the highest reaches of Israeli public service. Brings a careful, technically rigorous voice to the Court's commercial and family-law dockets.
Background
Born in Israel into a religious-Zionist family, Willner studied law at Bar-Ilan University, served in the IDF, and built her career in the Haifa District Court, where she specialized in family law and complex commercial disputes, before her 2017 elevation to the Supreme Court as part of the cohort that broadened the bench's representation.
Notable record
- Authored numerous opinions developing Israeli family and matrimonial property law, generally with sensitivity to the role of Jewish religious law in personal-status questions
- Joined the conservative side on key separation-of-powers questions while regularly building majorities on technical commercial appeals
- Has spoken publicly about the importance of observant women's voices in the legal profession and in Israeli public life more broadly
Today
Sitting on the full-bench panel hearing the petition against the 2025 selection-committee amendment.
Why it matters
Her career stands as evidence that traditional Jewish observance and the highest reaches of Israeli legal life are deeply compatible, and indeed strengthen one another.
Cite this page
Yael Willner, Justice of the Supreme Court. The State of Israel. https://thestateofisrael.com/justice/yael-willner