Former Supreme Court justice Eliyahu Winograd died at age 91, after serving as a President of the Tel Aviv District Court, and heading a committee investigating the events of Israel's Second Lebanon War.
Winograd, born in Tel Aviv, became a lawyer in 1952, working with a law firm for eight years before becoming an aide to the Tel Aviv District Prosecutor's office and then an independent lawyer. In 1972, Winograd was appointed as a judge in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's court. Five years later, he was chosen to serve as a judge in the district court.
His grandfather, Pinchas Mordechai Winograd, collected funds for the Torat Haim yeshiva, and his grandfather's brother was Rabbi Yeshayahu Ze'ev Winograd, a dean of the Etz Haim yeshiva.
Winograd received his PhD in law from Jerusalem's Hebrew University, and in 1987 began serving as a justice in Israel's Supreme Court. Between 1989-1996, he served as President of the Tel Aviv District Court. Winograd retired at age 70, receiving that same year an award from the Movement for Quality Government in Israel.
After retiring, Winograd worked as an arbitrator and mediator, serving in many public roles, working in municipal law, and joining a local law firm, Gideon Fisher and Co.
"We announce with pain and sorrow that retired Tel Aviv District Court President Dr. Eliyahu Winograd, who served also as a Supreme Court justice and who we merited to have as a partner in our office, passed away last night at 91 years of age," Gideon Fisher and Co said in a statement. "Winograd helped for many years to cultivate generations of young lawyers, and he was said to be 'unique in his generation.' We will miss him greatly. May his memory be blessed."
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) said Winograd was "a legal lighthouse whose contribution to Israel's security was enormous. The reports presented by public committees he headed, especially the one which investigated the Second Lebanon War, will continue guiding us in the future as well. May his memory be blessed."
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) said, "Judge Dr. Eliyahu Winograd was made without fear. He merited great public and professional respect, and not for nothing was he chosen to head a long list of public committees, the most prominent of which was the committee investigating the failures of the Second Lebanon War. The report he presented was professional and of the highest order. He was faithful to his path, and took only the truth into consideration. This is also how he acted when serving as a Supreme Court justice, when serving as the President of Tel Aviv's District Court, and during all his years in the legal system. May his memory be blessed."