Pnina Lahav
Professor of Law Emerita
Law Alumni Scholar
LLB magna cum laude, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law
LLM and JSD, Yale University
MA in Political Science, Boston University
Biography
During the course of her legal career, Pnina Lahav has published nearly 50 journal articles and three books, including the critically acclaimed Judgment in Jerusalem: Chief Justice Simon Agranat and the Zionist Century. Winner of Israel’s Seltner Award (1998) and the Gratz College Centennial Book Award (1998), she is presently completing a biography of Israel’s fourth prime minister, Golda Meir, a biography that asks how a lone woman surrounded by men makes it to the top.
Among the prestigious research fellowships that Professor Lahav has earned are a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation, a fellowship at the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and a fellowship from the Center for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Lahav also served as a religion fellow at Boston University School of Theology (2010, 2011). Professor Lahav delivered several endowed lectures, including the Lapidus Lecture at Princeton University in March 2015, the Rockoff Lecture at Rutgers University in March 2017 and the Taubman Lecture at the University of California in Santa Barbara in November 2017.
Known as a gifted teacher, Professor Lahav was the recipient of the BU Law Melton Prize for excellence in teaching in 2011. For her excellence in scholarship she was awarded the Life Achievement Award in Israel Studies by the Israel Studies Institute and the Association for Israel Studies in June 2017.
Lahav has taught at Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Herzlia, Oxford University and Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 in Lyon, France. Lahav teaches Constitutional Law, which “automatically keeps your teaching fresh,” she says. “Each year the Court addresses new issues and revisits old ones. Thus, there is always intellectual challenge and deeper exploration.” Lahav also teaches a course on the first amendment (her first love) and a seminar on the constitution and foreign affairs, a course she created especially to strengthen students’ knowledge of constitutional law while engaging with issues affecting the international scene.
- Profile Types
- Faculty and Professors Emeritus
- Areas of Interest
- Constitutional Law, Gender Matters, International & Comparative Law, Jurisprudence, Law and Foreign Affairs, Legal Biographies, and Legal History
Publications
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Pnina Lahav, The Only Woman in the Room: Golda Meir and Her Path to Power (2022)
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Pnina Lahav, Epilogue: Symposium Pnina Lahav: Between Two Worlds 44 Tel Aviv University Law Review (2021)
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Pnina Lahav, 'A Great Episode in the History of Jewish Womanhood': Golda Meir, the Women Workers' Council, Pioneer Women, and the Struggle for Gender Equality 23 Israel Studies (2018)
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Pnina Lahav, Zivotofsky v. Kerry: The Supreme Court of the United States, the Politics of American Jewry and the Biblical Balaam 21 Israel Studies (2016)
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Pnina Lahav, The Woes of WoW: The Women of the Wall as a Religious Social Movement and as a Metaphor, in Women's rights and religious law : domestic and international perspectives (Fareda Banda & Lisa Fishbayn Joffe,2016)
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Pnina Lahav, The Women of the Wall: A Metaphor for National and Religious Identity 30 Israel Studies Review (2015)
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Pnina Lahav, The Suez Crisis of 1956 and Its Aftermath: A Comparative Study of Constitutions, Use of Force, Diplomacy and International Relations 95 Boston University Law Review (2015)
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Pnina Lahav, Sixty Years since the Kol Ha'am Decision: What More Is There to Say 38 Tel Aviv University Law Review (2015)
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Pnina Lahav, Religious Citizenship/Secular Citizenship, in Woman Up 2: A Transatlantic Gender Dialogue (Maari Poim & Judit Tanczos,2015)
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Pnina Lahav, Can Israel Offer an Israeli Identity?, in Take a Teacher, Make a Friend (Michael Zank, Michael & Leanne Hoppe,2014)
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Pnina Lahav, Introduction 18 Israel Studies (2013)
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Pnina Lahav, Women of Wall: A Temporary but Meaningful Milestone: State of Israel v. Bonnie Reva Rus 9 Ha Mishpat (2013)
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Pnina Lahav, Israel’s Rosit the Riveter: Between Secular Law and Jewish Law 93 Boston University Law Review (2013)
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Pnina Lahav, Justice Miriam Ben Porat, In Memoriam 17 עורך הדין (2012)
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Pnina Lahav, American Influence on Israeli Law: Freedom of Expression, in Israel and the United States: Six Decades of US-Israeli Relations (Robert O. Freedman,2012)
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Pnina Lahav, A Small Nation Goes to War: Israel's Cabinet Authorization of the 1956 War 15 Israel Studies (2010)
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Pnina Lahav, Review of Outlawed Pigs: Law, Religion, and Culture in Israel 27 Law & History Review (2009) (book review)
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Pnina Lahav, Seeking Recognition: Women’s Struggle for Full Citizenship in the Community of Religious Worship, in Gendering Religion and Politics: Untangling Modernities (H. Herzog and A. Braude,2009)
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Pnina Lahav, American Moment[s]: When, How, and Why Did Israeli Law Faculties Come to Resemble Elite U.S. Law Schools? 10 Theoretical Inquiries in Law (2009)
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Pnina Lahav, The Israeli Supreme Court, in Contemporary Israel : Domestic Politics, Foreign Policy, and Security Challenges (Robert Freedman,2008)
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Pnina Lahav, An Interview with Justice Miriam Ben Porat 26 Ha Mishpat (2008)
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Pnina Lahav, Suppressing the Truth about Eichmann's Abduction: the Banning of Isser Harel's The House on Garibaldi Street 98 Zmanim: A Historical Quarterly / זמנים: רבעון להיסטוריה (2007)
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Pnina Lahav, A Chandelier for Women - A Tale About the Diaspora Museum and Maurycy Gottlieb's 'Day of Atonement' - Jews Praying on Yom Kippur 11 Israel Studies (2006)
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Pnina Lahav, The Republic of Choice, the Pledge of Allegiance, the American Taliban 40 Tulsa Law Review (2005)
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Pnina Lahav, Theater in the Courtroom, the Chicago Conspiracy Trial 16 Law and Literature (2004)
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Pnina Lahav, History in Journalism and Journalism in History: Anthony Lewis and the Watergate Crisis 29 Journal of Supreme Court History (2004)
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Pnina Lahav, Facing Occupation: How did Americans Justify Slavery and What May We Learn from their History about Ours? 16 Bar Ilan Legal Studies (2004)
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Pnina Lahav, Professor Ehud Sprinzak, In Memoriam 19 Israel Studies Forum (2003)
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Pnina Lahav, Archetypal Trials and the Management of Dissent: Some Insights from Marketing Theory 4 Theoretical Inquiries in Law (2003)
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Pnina Lahav, The Chicago Conspiracy Trial as a Jewish Morality Tale, in Lives in Law (Austin Sarat, Lawrence Douglas, & Martha Umphrey,2002)
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Pnina Lahav, Ron Harris, Assaf Likhovski & Alexandre Kedar, Israeli Legal History: Past and Present, in (2002)
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Pnina Lahav, The Pains and Gains of Writing Biography: Reflections on Writing the Biography of Chief Justice Simon Agranat, in The history of law in a multi-cultural society : Israel 1917-1967 (Ron Harris, Alexandre Kedar, Pnina Lahav, & Assaf Likhovski,2002)
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Pnina Lahav, Ron Harris, Alexandre Kedar & Assaf Likhovski, The History of Law in a Multi-Cultural Socety: Israel 1917-1967 (2002)
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Pnina Lahav, A "Jewish State ... to Be Known as the State of Israel": Notes on Israeli Legal Historiography 19 Law and History Review (2001)
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Pnina Lahav, Up Against the Wall: Women's Legal Struggle to Pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem 16 Israel Studies Bulletin (2000)
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Pnina Lahav, The Chicago Conspiracy Trial: Character and Judicial Discretion 71 University of Colorado Law Review (2000)
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Pnina Lahav, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press, in Beit-hamishpat: Hamishim shnot shfita beyisrael/The Courts of Law: Fifty Years of Adjudication in Israel (David Heshin,1999)
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Pnina Lahav, The First Decade of Israeli Law, The Courts of Law, in Beit-hamishpat: Hamishim shnot shfita beyisrael/The Courts of Law: Fifty Years of Adjudication in Israel (David Heshin,1999)
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Pnina Lahav, Law and the Transformation of Israeli Society 3 Israel Studies (1998)
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Pnina Lahav, Memorial Tributes for Professor Elizabeth B. Clark In Memoriam 78 Boston University Law Review (1998)
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Pnina Lahav, Who is a Jew: A tale of fathers and daughters, in Celebrating Elie Wiesel : stories, essays, reflections (Alan Rosen & Elie Wiesel,1998)
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Pnina Lahav, Personal and Collective Identity: Judaism and Modernity in the Shalit Case, in Cultural Pluralism in a Democratic and Jewish State (Menachem Mautner, Avi Sagy & Ronen Shamir,1998)
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Pnina Lahav, Judgment in Jerusalem: Chief Justice Simon Agranat and the Zionist Century (1997)
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Pnina Lahav, Israeli Military Leadership at the Yom Kippur War, Reflections on the Art of Reflection, in Critical Essays on Israeli Society, Religion and Government (K. Avruch & W. Zenners,1997)
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Pnina Lahav, The Legacy of Chief Justice Simon Agranat 42 Zmanim: A Historical Quarterly / זמנים: רבעון להיסטוריה (1995)
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Pnina Lahav, The Jewish Persona in Legal Discourse 2 Reconstruction (1994)
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Pnina Lahav, Rights and Democracy, the Court's Performance, in Israeli Democracy Under Stress (E. Sprinzak & L. Diamond,1993)
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Pnina Lahav, Modern Jewish Women: Between the Two Mehizas 3 S'vara : a journal of philosophy and Judaism (1993)
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Pnina Lahav, "When the Palliative Simply Impairs": The Debate in the Knesset on the Law for Women's Rights / "כשהפאליאטיב רק מקלקל": הדיון בכנסת על חוק שיווי זכויות האשה 46/47 Zmanim: A Historical Quarterly / זמנים: רבעון להיסטוריה (1993)
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Pnina Lahav, "When the Palliative Simply Impairs": The Debate in the Knesset on the Law for Women's Rights 46/47 Zmanim (1993)
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Pnina Lahav, The Jewish Perspective in International Law 87 American Society of International Law Proceedings (1993)
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Pnina Lahav, The Eichmann Trial, The Jewish Question, and the American-Jewish Intelligentsia 72 Boston University Law Review (1992)
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Pnina Lahav, Jurisprudence and Biography: The Case of Simon Agranat 8 Israel Studies Bulletin (1992)
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Pnina Lahav, National Security and the Media, in Security and Democracy (Avner Yaniv,1992)
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Pnina Lahav, The First Amendment at Home and Abroad 9 Communications Lawyer (1991)
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Pnina Lahav, Foundations of Rights Jurisprudence in Israel: Chief Justice Agranat's Legacy 24 Israel Law Review (1990)
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Pnina Lahav, Romanticism and the Golden Age 33 Politik (1990)
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Pnina Lahav, The Press and National Security 28 Israeli Democracy (1990)
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Pnina Lahav, The Supreme Court of Israel: Formative Years, 1948-1955 14 Tel Aviv University Law Review (1989)
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Pnina Lahav, Censorship, in International Encyclopedia of Communications (1989)
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Pnina Lahav, A Barrel Without Hoops: The Impact of Counterterrorism on Israel's Legal Culture 10 Cardozo Law Review (1988)
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Pnina Lahav, Holmes and Brandeis: Libertarian and Republican Justifications for Free Speech 4 Journal of Law and Politics (1988)
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Pnina Lahav, Holmes, Brandeis and the American Jurisprudence of Free Speech 26 Zmanim: A Historical Quarterly / זמנים: רבעון להיסטוריה (1987)
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Lion' of the Law -- Chief Justice S. Agranat at 80
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Pnina Lahav, Conclusion: An Outline for a General Theory of Press Law in Democracy, in Press Law in Modern Democracies (Pnina Lahav,1985)
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Pnina Lahav, Israel's Press Law, in Press Law in Modern Democracies (Pnina Lahav,1985)
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Pnina Lahav, The Jurisprudence of Chief Justice Simon Agranat, in Essays in Honor of Shimon Agranat (R. Gavison & M. Kremnitzer,1985)
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Pnina Lahav, Press Law in Modern Democracies: a Comparative Study (1985)
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Pnina Lahav, The Intellectual Development of the American Doctrine of Judicial Review 10 Tel Aviv University Law Review (1984)
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The Dilemma of Dual Loyalty
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Pnina Lahav, Comparative Press Laws, in World Press Encyclopedia (1982)
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Pnina Lahav, American Influence on Israel's Jurisprudence of Free Speech 9 Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly (1981)
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Pnina Lahav, Trustees of Self-Interest? 16 Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review (1981) (book review)
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Pnina Lahav, Review of Human Rights 15 Israel Law Review (1980) (book review)
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Pnina Lahav, The Art of Comparative Constitutional Law 53 Southern California Law Review (1980)
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Pnina Lahav, Golda's Ambiguous Legacy 6 Lilith (1979)
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Pnina Lahav, Israel's Constitution, in Supplement to Constitutions of the Countries of the World (Albert Blaustein & Gisbert H. Flanz, eds.,1979)
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Pnina Lahav, Governmental Regulation of the Press: A Study of Israel's Press Ordinance - Part II 13 Israel Law Review (1978)
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Pnina Lahav, Governmental Regulation of the Press: A Study of Israel's Press Ordinance -Part I 13 Israel Law Review (1978)
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Pnina Lahav, World Jewry and the Ballot: The Defence of Democracy at the World Zionist Federation and Its Potential Impact on Israel's Constitutional Law 12 Israel Law Review (1977)
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Pnina Lahav, Freedom of Expression in the Decisions of the Supreme Court 7 Mishpatim (1977)
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Pnina Lahav, Raising the Status of Women Through Law: The Case of Israel 3 Signs: Journal of Women and Culture (1977)
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Pnina Lahav, Who's Afraid of 'Absolute Rights' 7 Mishpatim (1977)
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Pnina Lahav, Political Censorship: Some Reflections on its Validity in Israel's Constitutional Law 11 Israel Law Review (1976)
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Pnina Lahav, The Right to Know, Freedom to Publish and Official Secrets 6 Mishpatim (1976)
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Pnina Lahav & David Kretzmer, A Bill of Rights for Israel: A Step Forward? 7 Mishpatim (1976)
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Pnina Lahav, Reflections on the Potential of Draft Basic Law: Rights of the Person, in Collection of the Lectures Delivered at the Seminar for Judges 1975: The New Civil Legislation (Shimon Shetreet,1976)
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Pnina Lahav, The Division of Legal Labor in Rural Haiti 8 Verfassung und Recht in Übersee VRÜ (1975)
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Pnina Lahav, The Chef de Section: Structure and Function of Haiti's Basic Administrative Institution 4 Occasional Papers (1975)
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Pnina Lahav, The Status of Women in Israel - Myth and Reality 22 American Journal of Comparative Law (1974)
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Pnina Lahav, Freedom of Expression During National Security Crises (1973) (Dissertation)
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Activities & Engagements
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