Emi Palmor

Emi Palmor was born in 1966 in Jerusalem

Palmor was born in Jerusalem in August 1966 to Holocaust survivors who came to Israel from Romania in 1960. Her father Eliezer was a diplomat, and her mother Shoshana was a chemist. Her name Emi is formed from the first letters of the names of her grandmother Esther and great-grandmother Michal, who died in the Holocaust.

She served in Unit 8200 of the Intelligence Corps from 1984 to 1986. In 1990 she finished law school at the Hebrew University and interned with Judge Zvi Tal.

From 1991 she worked in civil law at the Carmeli-Arnon firm in Jerusalem and became a partner in 1995. She was a state prosecutor from 1996 to 1999. In 2000 she became head of the Pardons Department at the Ministry of Justice and held the post for 14 years, also joining the team negotiating the release of Gilad Shalit.

On 1 February 2014 the government appointed her Director General of the Ministry of Justice at the proposal of Minister Tzipi Livni. She led reforms including the All Rights website, digital land registration, and a unit to coordinate the fight against racism. In July 2019 Minister Amir Ohana sought to replace her, the High Court froze the appointment, and she left the post in September 2019.

She promoted diversity in civil service hiring. In December 2019 she received the Shared Society Award from The Abraham Initiatives, and she is one of the first 20 members of the Facebook Oversight Board.