Jacob Neeman

Yaakov Israel Neeman (; 16 September 1939 – 1 January 2017) was an Israeli lawyer who served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Finance, although he was never a member of the Knesset.

Biography Neeman was born to a religious Zionist family in Tel Aviv during the Mandate era. He was educated at the Midrashiat Noam high-school yeshiva After returning to Israel, in 1972 he founded the law firm Herzog, Fox & Ne'eman, along with future president of Israel Chaim Herzog.

Neeman was appointed Director General of the Finance Ministry in 1979, serving until 1981. In June 1996 he was appointed to the Israeli cabinet as Minister of Justice by Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, despite not being a member of the Knesset.

Neeman resided in Jerusalem in the Talbiya section. He is survived by his wife and six children. emphasizing that "the Knesset is the legislator in Israel, and the interpretation of its laws is determined by the [civil] courts." He said that he advocated the use of religious courts only in an auxiliary role, to "resolve financial disputes in accordance with the principles of Jewish law. The court system in Israel is backed up, and therefore, cases should be transferred to an alternative system."