Ruth Gavison, an internationally acclaimed Israeli legal scholar died August 15. She was 75. Gavison, a founder of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, was one of the country’s most prominent and influential researchers and teachers in the field of law.

Among her many awards is the Israel Prize (2011), the country’s highest civilian honor; the Cheshin Prize (2009), and the Avi Chai Prize (2001). She was also granted honorary doctorates from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York (2003), and from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan (2009).

A member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Gavison was best known for her research, body of work, and sometimes controversial views on issues of religion and state, as well as on that of Israel as a Jewish and Democratic state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of Ruth Gavison in a statement, “Many times she refused to accept the accepted legal assumptions and led independent, courageous and groundbreaking positions that challenged the legal discourse and would leave their mark for many years.”