Leah Tsemel

Leah Tsemel was born in 1945 in Haifa

Leah Tsemel was born in Haifa on 19 June 1945. Her parents were immigrants from Poland, and her father was an engineer.

She studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After the Six-Day War she joined an army tour of the West Bank, where she saw Palestinian refugees and, by her account, became politically aware. She later helped found the women's liberation movement and was a member of Matzpen, where she met her partner Michel Warschawski.

In 1971 she began working for lawyer Felicia Langer. Over the following decades she represented Palestinians and Israelis in military and civilian courts, including Ezra Nawi and Ahmad Saadat. In 1992 she petitioned the High Court for 415 Hamas members deported to Lebanon, and she was among the petitioners against torture in interrogations.

She is a member of the Balad party and was placed in symbolic spots on its lists in several elections. Her work is the subject of the 2019 documentary Advocate, which won a 2021 Emmy award.