Erez Kaminitz Partner

Profile

Erez is a partner and head of the Government Relations, Legislation, and Regulation Department, with a legal practice that spans a diverse range of legal fields.

Among many fields, Erez has accumulated specialist expertise in real estate, planning, and zoning laws, including expropriations, the rules and regulations of the Israel Land Authority, urban renewal, and residential real estate transactions – both private and public. He has also developed a formidable reputation in relation to succession laws, trusts and endowments, the statute of limitations, consumer laws, class actions, local government laws, real estate in the West Bank, Arab and Druze settlements, and much more.

Having started his legal career in a law firm specializing in family and succession law, in 2001, Erez joined the Office of Legal Counsel and Legislative Affairs (Civil Law Department) of the Ministry of Justice, where he served, among many positions, as a member of the Codification committee and the coordinator of the Inheritance and Succession committee, headed by retired Justice Jacob Turkel. He was later appointed as head of the Real Estate Division in the Civil Law department, advising government ministries on real estate, planning, and zoning matters, and promoting numerous legislative proceedings in the government and the Knesset.

In 2013, Erez was appointed by the government as Deputy Attorney General (Civil Affairs), a position he held until 2021. In this role he oversaw the government’s extensive work in combating the housing crisis and efforts to reduce the cost of living, initiating and leading a host of legislative amendments, including amendments to the Land Law, 5729-1969, Planning and Building Law, 5725-1965, the Fair Credit Reform, the Credit Data Law, 5776-2016, and much more.

During his term in office, Erez published many significant opinions, led important legislative amendments to the various Arrangement Laws (government-sponsored bills presented to the Knesset each year alongside the State Budget Law), and headed many public committees, including, amongst others:

• The committee for reviewing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on frustration of contracts
• The committee for reviewing the capitalization interest in torts
• The inter-ministerial committee on real property purchase groups
• The committee for accelerating registration of rights processes in real property transactions (“from planning to registration”)
• The committee for reviewing barriers in urban renewal processes
• The committee for the removal of barriers in housing and real estate in the Arab and Druze populations
• The committee for reviewing the arrangements stipulated in the Class Actions law
• The committee for dealing with illegal building, the recommendations of which were legislated as Amendment No. 116 to the Planning and Building Law, also known as the “Kaminitz Law”.

In 2017 and 2019, Erez was nominated as one of the “100 Influencers,” published by The Marker Magazine.