Top lawyer Yaakov Weinroth, defender of Israel’s leaders, dies at 71

One of Israel’s most prominent lawyers in recent decades, Dr. Yaakov Weinroth, who represented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his family as well as ministers, presidents, judges and pop stars, died Monday at the age of 71 after a battle with cancer.

Weinroth, who defended Netanyahu against the corruption probes against him and who only recently quit the legal defense team for the premier’s wife, Sara, in a separate case, is survived by his wife, Giselle, and by six children.

Netanyahu issued a statement saying he and his wife were “shocked with sadness.”

“Yaakov was exceptional in his personality, his wisdom, his mental acuity, his sense of justice and his loyalty to his people,” he said. “This is a great loss to his family, friends and admirers, and it is a great loss to the Israeli justice system.”

“We send our love to Giselle and all the Weinroth family, who are dear to us like family. May his memory be blessed.”

Weinroth was born in 1947 in the German city of Ansbach. His parents moved to Israel when he was two years old, settling in Netanya. While his family wasn’t ultra-Orthodox, he studied at Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak and Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem and was ordained as a rabbi.

But at 20 years old, as the Six Day War began, he changed tack, deciding to join the Israel Defense Forces and later to study law, completing his doctorate at Tel Aviv University in 1981.

Weinroth’s PhD thesis formed the basis of a Knesset law passed in the 1990s that introduced new ways for rabbinical courts in Israel to tackle divorce refusers, a central challenge in Jewish law.

He founded a law firm, Dr. J. Weinroth & Co., which over the years became one of Israel’s leading offices specializing in white collar crimes.

Weinroth represented Netanyahu during his first term as prime minister in the 1990s, successfully defending him from corruption allegations. His firm presently still represents him in various graft cases, in two of which police have recommended an indictment for bribery.

He also represented Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman, the current defense minister, in several corruption cases over the years that did not end in convictions.

Liberman said Monday that Weinroth’s death was “a loss for the people of Israel and for me personally,” adding that he was “a uniquely special person. Clever, intellectual and with exceptional understanding of human beings.”

Among other public figures Weinroth represented were former president Ezer Weizman; former ministers Meir Sheetrit, Avraham Hirschson, Tsachi Hanegbi and Binyamin Ben Eliezer; popular singers Eyal Golan and Kobi Peretz; and several top police officials.

Despite repeatedly defending public servants accused of corruption, Weinroth condemned that phenomenon as well as crony capitalism in many media interviews.

Weinroth was himself charged with bribery in 2009, but was eventually cleared of all charges.

Many politicians across the political spectrum eulogized Weinroth.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) said he was “a complicated man with many contradictions. On one hand, a brilliant yeshiva student ordained by top rabbis, and a military prosecutor on the other. A top defense attorney, who saw suspects’ rights as sacred. His wide heart and sharp wits shone in the Israeli legal world.”

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) called Weinroth “a scholar, gifted lawyer, a man of kindness and truth, an exceptional personality and dedicated friend.”

MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union) said he would probably be remembered as a defender of tycoons and of Netanyahu, “but it is more complicated than that: Despite the contradiction, he had well-reasoned and knowledgeable socialist views, took minimal service fees from the poor, and donated significant sums to charity without PR. I share his family’s grief. May his memory be blessed.”

Weinroth fell ill with cancer last year, but continued to work almost to his last day.