How Many Arab Judges Sit on Israel’s Supreme Court? 1 of 15 in 2020
Israel’s Supreme Court had 1 Arab justice of 15 in May to June 2020, on the Knesset Research and Information Centre’s count. The 2026 roster lists 11 justices.
Israel’s Supreme Court had 1 Arab justice of 15 in May to June 2020, a share of 7%, on the count the Knesset Research and Information Centre published on 3 November 2020. The Supreme Court’s own roster lists 11 serving justices in November 2026. No Israeli body in this record publishes how many of those 11 are Arab, so the 2020 count stays a 2020 count.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 of 15 (7%) | Arab justices on the Supreme Court, judges only | Knesset Research and Information Centre | May to June 2020 |
| 15 | Justices on the bench the paper measured | Knesset Research and Information Centre | May to June 2020 |
| 11 | Serving justices: the President, the Deputy President and 9 justices | Supreme Court of Israel, roster | November 2026 |
| 9% of 807 | Arab judges and registrars, all tiers combined | Knesset Research and Information Centre | May to June 2020 |
| 0 of 8 | Arab judges on the National Labour Court | Knesset Research and Information Centre | May to June 2020 |
| 13% | Arab registrars, all tiers combined | Knesset Research and Information Centre | May to June 2020 |
The Knesset Research Centre counts 1 Arab justice of 15
The Knesset Research and Information Centre found that 7% of Supreme Court justices were Arab in May to June 2020. The paper prints the share rather than a headcount. Its breakdown of the justices by last role before appointment sums to 15, which makes the 7% 1 justice of 15.
- 15 justices on the bench the paper measured: 8 came from private practice, 3 from academia and the remaining 4 from public legal posts.
- 1 Arab justice, printed as 7%. 1 of 15 is 6.7%, which rounds to the printed figure.
- 731 judges across every tier in the same count, with registrars excluded.
- The population-group data came from judges’ CVs as published on the Judicial Authority’s site in 2020, compiled by hand.
- The paper is dated 3 November 2020, written by Ido Avgar at the request of a member of the Knesset.
The Supreme Court lists 11 serving justices in November 2026
The Supreme Court’s roster of serving judges and registrars records 11 justices, as read on 9 November 2026. The 2020 count of 1 Arab justice was taken on a bench of 15. The roster lists a bench of 11 at a different date, and the two are different benches.
| Office | Serving |
|---|---|
| President | 1 |
| Deputy President | 1 |
| Justices | 9 |
| Total justices | 11 |
| Registrar, listed separately | 1 |
Source: Supreme Court of Israel, roster of serving judges and registrars, read 9 November 2026.
No Israeli body here publishes an Arab count for the 2026 bench
The Knesset Research and Information Centre’s population-group count is dated May to June 2020, and no later official count by population group appears in this record. The Supreme Court’s November 2026 roster records offices and names only.
- The roster lists the President, the Deputy President, 9 justices and a registrar. It prints each name in Hebrew, Arabic and Latin script and carries no population-group field.
- The Judicial Authority’s judges’ CV site, checked on 9 November 2026, carries no population-group field.
- The Knesset paper’s population-group figures were compiled by hand from the CVs as published in 2020.
The figure of 1 Arab justice of 15 is therefore a May to June 2020 figure, and is not restated as a count for the bench of 11.
Arab judges and registrars were 9% of 807 across the courts
The Knesset Research and Information Centre counted 807 judges and registrars in the Judicial Authority’s CV database in May to June 2020, and 9% of them were Arab. With registrars excluded, the Arab share falls by about half a percentage point. Among the 731 judges, the Arab share ran from 7% to 9% in most tiers.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 9% of 807 | Arab judges and registrars, all tiers combined | May to June 2020 |
| 9% | Arab judges in the magistrates’ courts | May to June 2020 |
| 7% | Arab judges in the district courts | May to June 2020 |
| 7% | Arab justices on the Supreme Court | May to June 2020 |
| 9% | Arab judges in the regional labour courts | May to June 2020 |
Source: Knesset Research and Information Centre, Data on the Demographic and Occupational Background of Judges, 3 November 2020. Tier shares are of judges only, registrars excluded.
13% of registrars were Arab, and the National Labour Court none
The Knesset Research and Information Centre recorded no Arab judge among the 8 judges of the National Labour Court in May to June 2020. It was the one tier in the paper with no Arab judge. Among registrars across all tiers, 13% were Arab.
- National Labour Court: 8 judges, 0 Arab.
- Registrars, all tiers: 13% Arab.
- Judges and registrars together: 9% Arab, of 807.
The 9% counts registrars and the 7% does not
- The Knesset Research and Information Centre’s 9% is a share of 807 judges and registrars together; the 7% for the Supreme Court is a share of judges only, within 731.
- The registrars’ 13% belongs to registrars alone and is not a share of judges.
- The 1 of 15 is a May to June 2020 count; the 11 is the Supreme Court roster for November 2026. They are not combined into a present-day share.
- The paper prints 7%; 1 of 15 is 6.7%.
Questions readers ask
How many justices sit on Israel’s Supreme Court today?
The Supreme Court’s roster records 11 serving justices in November 2026: the President, the Deputy President and 9 justices, with a registrar listed separately.
How many justices did the court have when the Arab share was counted?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre counted 15 justices in May to June 2020, a figure fixed by its breakdown of the justices by last role before appointment.
Is 7% the same as 1 justice?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre published a share of 7% for the Supreme Court in 2020. On a bench of 15, 1 justice is 6.7%, which rounds to 7%.
What share of all Israeli judges are Arab?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre found 9% of 807 judges and registrars were Arab in May to June 2020. Excluding registrars, the share falls by about half a percentage point.
How many Arab judges sit in the district courts?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre recorded an Arab share of 7% among district court judges in May to June 2020. The paper gives the share for that tier rather than a headcount.
What share of magistrates’ court judges are Arab?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre counted 9% of magistrates’ court judges as Arab in May to June 2020.
Are there Arab judges in the labour courts?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre found 9% of regional labour court judges were Arab in May to June 2020. The National Labour Court, with 8 judges, had none.
Are any court registrars Arab?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre recorded 13% of registrars across all tiers as Arab in 2020.
Does the Supreme Court publish the population group of its justices?
The Supreme Court’s roster, read on 9 November 2026, records offices and names only, with no population-group field. The Judicial Authority’s CV site carries no such field either.
Where did the 2020 population-group figures come from?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre stated that the figures came from judges’ CVs as published on the Judicial Authority’s site in 2020, compiled by hand.
Who wrote the Knesset paper, and when?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre published the paper on 3 November 2020. Ido Avgar wrote it at the request of a member of the Knesset.
What backgrounds did the 15 justices come from in 2020?
The Knesset Research and Information Centre recorded 8 justices from private practice and 3 from academia, with the remaining 4 from public legal posts.
Sources
- Knesset Research and Information Centre, 2020. נתונים על הרקע הדמוגרפי והתעסוקתי של שופטים (Data on the Demographic and Occupational Background of Judges). Written by Ido Avgar, 3 November 2020. https://fs.knesset.gov.il/globaldocs/MMM/e95db6db-1d12-eb11-8108-00155d0aee38/2_e95db6db-1d12-eb11-8108-00155d0aee38_11_16514.pdf. Official or primary record, in Hebrew.
- Supreme Court of Israel, 2026. שופטים ורשמים מכהנים (Serving Judges and Registrars). Court roster, read 9 November 2026. https://supreme.court.gov.il/Pages/Judges.aspx. Official or primary record, in Hebrew.
