Barak was the "judicial commander in chief", who legitimized almost all the injustices of the occupation. He has led Israel's judicial system into the role of indentured servant to the security forces – the IDF, the Shin Bet (domestic secret service), the Mossad and the settlers. He justified shooting at civilian populations; legalized land confiscations, home demolitions and other forms of collective punishment; approved administrative detentions (imprisonment without trial), the Apartheid wall, the distortions of the Occupation's military tribunals - and torture (yes, in spite of the 1999 verdict that ostensibly forbade torture, he actually left the door wide open to continue them under a "necessity" clause, and indeed they have continued in full force). The Grand Finale was his last verdict, in which he has imprinted yet another Kosher stamp, this time on the policy of extrajudicial executions ( a.k.a. "targeted killings").
Elena Kagan called former Israeli Supreme Court President Aharon Barak "my judicial hero". Israeli writer and activist Gideon Spiro wrote the piece "Judge Barak" shortly after Barak retired. An excerpt: