Mishael Cheshin

Mishael Cheshin was born in 1936 in Beirut

Mishael Cheshin was born in Beirut in 1936, while his family was staying in Lebanon. His father, Shneor Zalman Cheshin, was a Supreme Court justice, and his mother, Leah, was the founding president of the Jerusalem Foundation. The family returned to the Land of Israel in 1937, and he grew up in Tel Aviv before moving to Jerusalem.

In 1953 he began engineering studies at the Technion but left after 3 weeks to study law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He completed his first degree in 1957 and later earned a doctorate in law. He taught at the university's law faculty for many years.

He joined the State Attorney's Office in 1962 and was appointed deputy attorney general under Meir Shamgar in 1973. In 1978 he left and opened a private law firm, where his clients included Amir Drori before the Kahan Commission. He also chaired the national council of the Israel Bar Association.

He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1992 and often wrote minority opinions. In 2003 he chaired the Central Election Commission and stopped a broadcast of a press conference by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as banned election propaganda. He became deputy president in 2005, retired in 2006, and died of cancer in 2015.