Daniel Friedmann

Daniel Friedmann was born in 1936 in Mandatory Palestine

Friedmann was born in 1936 in Mandatory Palestine to Victor and Yehudit, née Carmi. On his mother's side his family had lived in the land for generations. He attended the Geula Gymnasium, founded by his grandfather, and was active in the Scouts.

He began law studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1953 and received a master's degree in 1957. He later served as a legal officer in the IDF, clerked for Supreme Court judge Yoel Zussman and studied at the London School of Economics. He earned a doctorate from the Hebrew University and an LLM from Harvard.

After working as a lawyer in Tel Aviv, he joined Tel Aviv University, where he became a professor and was dean of the law faculty from 1974 to 1978. He taught as a visiting professor at Harvard, Penn, Fordham and London. In 1990 he founded the law faculty of the College of Management and led it until 1997.

He wrote on contracts, insurance, torts and comparative law, and coauthored a series of books on contracts with Nili Cohen. He was a member of the Democratic Movement for Change and later of Shinui. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appointed him Minister of Justice in 2007, and he was known as a critic of the Israeli judiciary.