{{Short description|Israeli academic (born 1957)}} {{more footnotes needed|date=July 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Alon Harel | native_name = אלון הראל | native_name_lang = he | image = Alon Harel.jpg | image_size = 180px | caption = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1957}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | fields = Legal studies<br />Legal philosophy<br />Political philosophy | workplaces = Hebrew University of Jerusalem | alma_mater = Balliol College, Oxford<br /> <br />Hebrew University of Jerusalem | doctoral_advisor = Joseph Raz | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature = <!--(filename only)--> | signature_alt = | footnotes = }}
'''Alon Harel''' ({{langx|he|אלון הראל}}; born 1957) is a law professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he holds the Phillip P. Mizock & Estelle Mizock Chair in Administrative and Criminal Law. He was educated at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Balliol College, Oxford (where he earned a D.Phil. in legal philosophy with a dissertation supervised by Joseph Raz). He has been a visiting professor at Columbia University, Harvard University, the University of Toronto, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Chicago.
Harel writes on political philosophy, jurisprudence, criminal law, constitutional law, and law and economics. His articles often undertake philosophical and legal issues of contemporary political relevance. In a recent article (co-authored with Yuval Eylon), Harel defends judicial review on the grounds of a "right to a hearing", which, as a participatory right, does not conflict with the right to equal democratic participation.
A leading advocate of Israeli human rights in Israel, Harel has served on the board of directors of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and submitted a Brief on Behalf of Conscientious Objectors to the Israeli Supreme Court. He often publishes op-ed pieces in Israeli newspapers. A member of Academia for Equality, an organization working to promote democratization, equality and access to higher education for all communities living in Israel.
Harel is the founder and editor of the journal ''Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies'', together with David Enoch.
In 2015, Harel drew criticism for degrading a right-wing student on his Facebook page, tagging her in a post and suggesting that she "return to first grade civics lessons."<ref>{{cite web|title=Professor Attacks Right Wing Student on Facebook: Go Back to First Grade|url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/684/455.html|website=NRG News}}</ref>
In 2024, Harel wrote a Facebook post in which he claimed that settler and former deputy director of the right-wing legal aid group Honenu, Uri Kirshenbaum, was <q>participating in a competition as to who will adopt Nazi ideology sooner.</q><ref name="2026jan">{{Cite news |last=Maanit |first=Chen |last2=Aderet |first2=Ofer |date=25 January 2026 |title=Who Are You Calling a Nazi? In Israel, This Word Can Get You Sued |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-01-25/ty-article-magazine/.premium/who-are-you-calling-a-nazi-in-israel-this-word-can-get-you-sued/0000019b-f53f-d759-a1ff-ff7f96830000 |work=Haaretz}}</ref> after Kirshenbaum had written an article in which he claimed that the IDF's policy of killing many civilians in Gaza should be used in the West Bank.{{Efn| "Almost indiscriminately in Gaza for a certain period, the IDF bombed buildings and towers, with the complete understanding that masses of children and mothers would be killed," Kirshenbaum wrote. "The required strategy for defense has led Israel to very severely mow down 'innocents' in Gaza because there is no other way to defeat and eradicate Hamas. It's intentional, it's strategic, it's true. Let no one pretend otherwise. Now let someone explain to me why what is true in Gaza is not true in Jenin and Tulkarm, Hebron and Nablus." <ref name="2026jan" />|name=q}} On 2 March 2026, the Jerusalem small claims court ordered Harel to pay Kirshenbaum 20,000 shekels for libel.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maanit |first=Chen |title=Professor to Pay Israeli Settler $6,500 After Comparing His Ideology to Nazism |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-03-09/ty-article/.premium/professor-to-pay-israeli-settler-6-500-after-comparing-his-ideology-to-nazism/0000019c-ce2a-d7ec-a59c-eeeb0f490000}}</ref>
==Books== * {{cite book|first=Alon|last= Harel|title=Why Law Matters|publisher=Oxford Legal Philosophy|year=2014}} * {{cite book|first=Alon|last= Harel|title=Wozu Recht: Rechte, Staat und Verfassung im Kontext moderner Gesellschaften|date=February 2018|isbn=978-3495489383 |publisher=Verlag Karl Alber|translator=Veit Friemert (from English)|url=https://www.herder.de/philosophie-ethik-shop/wozu-recht-kartonierte-ausgabe/c-27/p-11696}} * {{cite book|first=Alon|last= Harel|title=Por qué el derecho importa|publisher=Marcial Pons |year=2018|translator=Mariano Vitetta |url=https://www.marcialpons.es/libros/por-que-el-derecho-importa/9788491235132}}
== Selected publications == *{{Citation |first=Alon |last=Harel |author-mask=3 |title=Efficiency and Fairness in Criminal Law: The Case for a Criminal Law Principle of Comparative Fault |journal=California Law Review |volume=82 |issue=5 |year=1994 |pages=1181–1229 |doi=10.2307/3480909 |url=http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1704&context=californialawreview |jstor=3480909 |url-access=subscription }}. *{{Citation |first1=Alon |last1=Harel |author-mask1=3 |first2=Gideon |last2=Parchomovsky |title=On Hate and Equality |journal=Yale Law Journal |volume=109 |issue=3 |year=1999 |pages=507–539 |doi=10.2307/797410 |jstor=797410 }}. *{{Citation |first1=Alon |last1=Harel |author-mask1=3 |first2=Uzi |last2=Segal |title=Criminal law and behavioral law and economics: observations on the neglected role of uncertainty in deterring crime |journal=American Law and Economics Review |volume=1 |issue=1 |year=1999 |pages=276–312 |doi=10.1093/aler/1.1.276 |url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2gx715nd }}. *{{Citation |first1=Alon |last1=Harel |author-mask1=3 |author2-link=Oren Bar-Gill |first2=Oren |last2=Bar-Gill |title=Crime Rates and Expected Sanctions: The Economics of Deterrence Revisited |journal=Journal of Legal Studies |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=485–502 |year=2001 |doi=10.1086/322055 |citeseerx=10.1.1.629.9747 }}. *{{Citation |first1=Alon |last1=Harel |author-mask1=3 |first2=Yuval |last2=Eylon |title=The Right to Judicial Review |journal=Virginia Law Review |volume=92 |issue=5 |pages=991–1022 |year=2006 |url=http://www.virginialawreview.org/articles.php?article=110 |access-date=20 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716085738/http://www.virginialawreview.org/articles.php?article=110 |archive-date=16 July 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}.
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20081211202024/http://law.huji.ac.il/eng/segel.asp?staff_id=50&cat=441 Harel's homepage] at the Hebrew University * Judah, Ben, [http://www.thealligatoronline.com/?article/35 "The dignity of the human in Israel: interview with Alon Harel"], ''The Alligator Online'', 2 February 2009 * [http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199643271.do Why Law Matters], in Oxford Legal Philosophy * Will Baude, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/11/06/book-review-why-law-matters-by-alon-harel/ Book Review: ‘Why Law Matters,’ by Alon Harel], ''The Washington Post'', 6 November 2014 * Barbara Baum Levenbook, [https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/61517-why-law-matters/ Alon Harel Why Law Matters], Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 6 October 2015
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harel, Alon}} Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:Israeli jurists Category:Israeli philosophers Category:Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Category:Yale University alumni Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Category:Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Category:Israeli activists Category:Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium alumni