Yoram Dinstein Explained

Yoram Dinstein
Birth Date:2 January 1936
Birth Place:Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine
Nationality:Israeli
Native Name Lang:he
Known For:International law specialist; authority on the laws of war;[1] [2] [3] [4] former President and Dean of Law at Tel Aviv University.
Education:J.D. from New York University Law School[5]
Employer:Tel Aviv University
Notable Works:
Professor Emeritus
Awards:Israel prize (2023)

Yoram Dinstein (Hebrew: יורם דינשטיין; 2 January 1936 – 10 February 2024) was an Israeli scholar and professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University. He was a specialist on international law and an authority on the laws of war.[1] [2] [3] [4] He served as President of Tel Aviv University from 1991 to 1998 and won the 2023 Israel prize for law research.

Biography

Yoram Dinstein was born in Tel Aviv on 2 January 1936. He received his legal education from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he graduated summa cum laude, and New York University Law School.[5] [6] Dinstein died on 10 February 2024, at the age of 88.[7] [8]

Legal and academic career

Dinstein began teaching at the Hebrew University in 1964.[9] From 1966 to 1970, he was a member of the Israeli delegation to the United Nations and the Israeli Consul-General in New York City.[10]

Dinstein was Dean of the Faculty Law at Tel Aviv University from 1978 to 1980.[5] From 1980 to 1985 he was the Rector of Tel Aviv University (1980–85), and he served as its president from 1991 to 1998 (following Moshe Many, and succeeded by Itamar Rabinovich).[11] [12] [13]

Dinstein served twice as the Charles H. Stockton Professor of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2002 to 2003.[1] [14] [15] He was also a Humboldt Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany, a Meltzer Visiting Professor of Law at New York University, and a visiting Professor of Law at the University of Toronto.[15]

Dinstein was President of Israel's national branch of the International Law Association and of the Israel United Nations Association. He served as Chairman of the Israel national branch of Amnesty International and as a member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law. He was a member of the Council of the San Remo International Institute of Humanitarian Law.[5] He was the founder and Editor of the Israel Yearbook on Human Rights (40 volumes of which have been issued – in English – since 1971).[6]

Dinstein wrote on international law, human rights, and the laws of armed conflict.[5]

Israel's chapter of Amnesty International

Yoram Dinstein headed Israel's chapter of Amnesty International from 1974 to 1976. During this time, Dinstein received money from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Dinstein also told the Israeli Foreign Ministry about the internal activities and contacts of Amnesty International.[16] This has led Neve Gordon and Nicola Perugini to characterize Dinstein as an Israeli "spy" within Amnesty International.[17] Dinstein used his position as “chairman of the Israel national section of Amnesty” to criticize the work of Felicia Langer, a lawyer who was advocating for rights of Palestinians in Israeli courts.[17]

Dinstein later said Amnesty International was "a populist organization very far from everything I believe in".[16]

Notable opinions

In 2004, the issue of targeted killings of suspected Palestinian militants went before the Israeli supreme court. Critics argued that while it is legitimate to kill suspected terrorists while they pose a threat, many Israeli targeted killings happened when the suspected militants were sleeping at home or engaged in other activities that did not endanger anyone. Dinstein argued Israeli targeted killings were "almost always legitimate".[18]

Regarding Israeli settlements, Dinstein argued they were only illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention when they benefit from government subsidies or coordination, but that when Israeli settlers act on their own initiative without government help, then such settlements don't violation the Geneva Convention.[19]

Published works

Books

Articles

Notes and References

  1. News: U.S. faces question of compensating victims of 'collateral damage' . Post-gazette.com . 13 April 2003 . 2 June 2010 . Lillian . Thomas.
  2. News: Anthony Dworkin . Defence or murder? | Law . The Guardian . 30 March 2004. 2 June 2010 . London.
  3. News: Yoaz . Yuval . An Israeli enters the action in The Hague – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News . Haaretz . Haaretz.com . 3 February 2005. 2 June 2010.
  4. Web site: Think Peace: Defend the people of Palestine By Henry Lowi . Aljazeerah.info . 30 June 2006 . 2 June 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110607152417/http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2006%20Opinion%20Editorials/June/30%20o/Think%20Peace%20Defend%20the%20people%20of%20Palestine%20By%20Henry%20Lowi.htm . 7 June 2011 .
  5. Web site: International law expert, Professor Yoram Dinstein, on the international 'War on Terrorism' : News : The University of Melbourne . Voice.unimelb.edu.au . 11 September 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091013080843/http://voice.unimelb.edu.au/view.php?articleID=5387 . 13 October 2009 .
  6. Web site: Professor Yoram Dinstein C.V. . https://web.archive.org/web/20130927032333/http://www.iihl.org/iihl/Documents/DINSTEIN.pdf . 27 September 2013 . 22 January 2020.
  7. Web site: ALMA expresses its condolences on the passing of Professor Yoram Dinstein z"l. . ALMA-IHL on X . 12 February 2024.
  8. News: חתן פרס ישראל, המשפטן פרופ' יורם דינשטיין, הלך לעולמו בגיל 88 . 12 February 2024 . Ynet . 12 February 2024.
  9. Web site: מינויים באוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - על המשמר, 23/08/1964 . Jpress.org.il . 23 August 1964 . 22 January 2020.
  10. Web site: מחפשים דרכים למלחמה בעוני - דבר, 03/03/1967 . Jpress.org.il . 22 January 2020.
  11. Web site: Berkofsky . Joe . WJC to overhaul organization . JTA . 30 November 1999 . 2 June 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110607060135/http://www.jta.org/news/article/0000/00/00/10873/WorldJewishCongres . 7 June 2011 .
  12. Web site: Office of the Rector – Rector . Rector.tau.ac.il . 2 June 2010.
  13. Web site: Basch_Interactive . Presidents of Tel Aviv University | Tel Aviv University | Tel Aviv University . English.tau.ac.il . 1 January 1980 . 18 February 2020.
  14. News: War prompts debate over possible international law violations . Glen Sulmasy and Paul Schiff Berman . The Day . 30 March 2003 . New London, CT.
  15. Web site: The International Law of Belligerent Occupation, Yoram Dinstein, Book – Barnes & Noble . Search.barnesandnoble.com . 23 April 2009 . 2 June 2010.
  16. https://web.archive.org/web/20170319204831/http://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/.premium-1.777770 Documents reveal how Israel made Amnesty's local branch a front for the Foreign Ministry in the 70s
  17. News: Perugini . Neve Gordon,Nicola . Israel’s human rights spies: Manipulating the discourse . Al Jazeera . en.
  18. News: Dworkin . Anthony . Defence or murder? . The Guardian . 30 March 2004.
  19. Web site: Matheson . Michael J. . The International Law of Belligerent Occupation . American Journal of International Law . 701–705 . English . 1 October 2010.

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