Esther "Esti" Avni was born in Herzliya, Israel, in the Shaviv ma'abara (today the Yad HaTesha neighborhood) to Yehuda and Yehudit Avni, who were both RomanianHolocaust survivors.[1] Her parents divorced when she was a toddler, and her father emigrated to the United Kingdom. She grew up in her grandparents' home in the Neve Amal neighborhood of Herzliya.[2] At age 17, she moved to Eilat to live with her mother, who had remarried. She completed high school in Eilat in 1971. After graduating high school, she was conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces, where she served in the military music band of Central Command.[3]
After her discharge from the army, Hayut attended law school at Tel Aviv University, graduating in 1977.[4] During her law studies, she met her husband, David Hayut, with whom she has two sons. Hayut interned at the law firm of Haim Yosef Zadok, a former Israeli Minister of Justice, where she stayed on to work as an associate lawyer between 1977 and 1985. After leaving the firm, Hayut opened an independent office together with her husband, specializing in commercial law and tort law.
Judicial career
Hayut was appointed judge of the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court in March 1990, acting judge of the Tel Aviv District Court in October 1996, and judge of the Tel Aviv District Court in September 1997. She served as an acting justice of the Supreme Court from March 2003 and as President of the Supreme Court of Israel in May 2004.[4]
Hayut was unanimously elected to replace Miriam Naor as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 2017 according to the seniority method used in Israel.[6][7][8]
In January 2023, Hayut spoke against proposed judicial reforms, calling them "an unbridled attack ... a plan to crush the judicial system" at a conference of the Israel Association of Public Law.[9][10]
Justice Hayut retired on 15 October 2023, legally mandated for Supreme Court presidents when reaching 70, with no permanent replacement named.[11] Justice Uzi Vogelman was expected to become president in 2023 following Hayut's retirement until his own retirement a year later, but due to the short term he would serve, he indicated he would decline the position.[12] Nevertheless, as Deputy President of the Supreme Court, Vogelman became acting president on 16 October 2023.
Awards
In 2022, Hayut was chosen by Forbes as one of the "50 over 50 women leading the way throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.[13]
On December 23, 2024 Hayut was conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by the University of Haifa.
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