State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel (1987-1988)
Jacob Meltz (1923-2006) was the State Comptroller of the State of Israel and a Supreme Court judge.
Family Background
Jacob Meltz was born on October 8th, 1923 in Lvov (Poland) and immigrated to Israel at the age of two. Meltz had two daughters.
Education & Military Service
Meltz studied at the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa and started to study History and Philosophy at the Hebrew University. A year later, he decided to transfer to law school and completed his first degree at the School of Law & Economics in 1946. He worked as an intern at Zmora (Moshe Zmora later became the president of the Supreme Court), Krongold & Rosen (Pinchas Rosen later became the first Minister of Justice) Law Firm - and afterwards at Bar Shira Law Firm.
In 1948, Meltz was recruited to the Israeli Police and graduated from the first officers' course. He served as the assistant to the head of Criminal Investigations Division. As part of his service at the Police he lectured on issues of criminal procedures in training courses for investigators.
State Comptroller Meltz presents the State Comptroller's Report of 1988 to President Herzog. Photo: Yaakov Sa'ar, Government Press Office
Professional Background
Following his retirement from the Police in 1950, he worked as an attorney at the office of attorney Aharon Hoter-Yishai in Tel Aviv. In 1960, he became an associate in the law firm of Aharon Hoter-Yishai and Yitzhak Tunik whom he later replaced as State Comptroller and Ombudsman. In 1969, he started a private firm and focused on civil and criminal law. Meltz served as chief justice at the Disciplinary Court of the Bar Association. In 1979, he was appointed as judge at Tel-Aviv District Court and in 1986 he was appointed as acting judge at the Supreme Court.
On February 5th, 1987, Jacob Meltz was appointed as State Comptroller and Ombudsman. Following his appointment as permanent judge at the Supreme Court, Meltz retired from his role as State Comptroller and Ombudsman on June 30th, 1988.
Additional Roles
Meltz served as the head of several public committees: the committee for comparing the benefits of victims of acts of terror to the benefits of IDF's orphans, the public committee for examining the structure of universities, the committee for appointing legal advisors for governmental companies and the committee for commemorating the righteous amongst the nations. Meltz was a member of the commission of inquiry that examined the investigative methods of the Israeli Security Agency. Meltz lectured at the Hebrew University Faculty of Law and at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies for Judges.
Jacob Meltz passed away on October 8th, 2006.
