Gabriel Bach

Gabriel Bach was born in 1927 in Halberstadt

Bach was born in Halberstadt, Germany, in 1927 and grew up in Berlin. His father, Victor Bach, managed a copper and brass factory. In October 1938 the family left Nazi Germany for Amsterdam, and in 1940 they moved to Mandatory Palestine and settled in Jerusalem.

He joined the Haganah in 1943 and finished high school in Jerusalem in 1945. After a year at the Hebrew University, he won a scholarship to study law in London and graduated with honors. He then interned at a law office in England.

Back in Israel, he served in the Military Advocate General's Corps from 1951 to 1953. In the reserves he became a judge on the Military Court of Appeals.

He joined the State Attorney's Office in 1953 and was one of the prosecutors in the Eichmann trial. In 1969 he became State Attorney and handled cases including the trial of Michael Rohan over the al-Aqsa Mosque fire. In 1982 he was appointed to the Supreme Court, where he served until 1997, and he chaired the Central Elections Committee for the 11th Knesset.

After retiring he chaired the advisory committee for senior civil service appointments from 1999 to 2010. He married Ruth Arazi in 1955 and lived in Jerusalem. He died in 2022.