Tilting at windmills

Gilad Barnea is Israel's most active and influential attorney in social welfare. After 15 years in the profession, he's known as a serial winner, who prevails even in cases that seem lost.

Barnea has advised a number of nonprofits: Yedid, the Association for Community Empowerment; Community Advocacy; and the Histadrut labor federation's Hevrat Ovdim. He was involved in the formulation of the law to protect the rights of residents of public housing, as well as the Public Housing Law, which enabled residents to purchase their public housing apartments at low prices. He has also worked on free speech issues and the Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem.

	Gilad Barnea, counsel to the needy
	Photo by: Nir Kafri

Barnea succeeded in persuading the High Court of Justice to prevent the privatization of prisons and emerged with a historic judgment supporting his principles. He also represented students who petitioned the High Court to equalize the state support provided to university students with that given to yeshiva students - and won the case.

At the moment, he is representing a coalition of organizations who have petitioned the court against the privatization of state land that was initiated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At the same time, he is representing hundreds of needy persons in their daily struggle for survival against government bureaucracy.

In Hollywood they would have already made a blockbuster legal thriller about him, but here in Israel it is as if he is starring in a war drama.