Israel slams Navi Pillay's Nobel Peace Prize, says award legitimises 'anti-Israel hatred'

Israel on Friday criticised the decision to award South African jurist Navi Pillay the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, accusing the Nobel Committee of legitimising "anti-Israel hatred" because of her role in a United Nations commission that concluded Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. In a post on X, Israel's Foreign Ministry described the award as a "grotesque weaponization" of the prize to legitimise "anti-Israel hatred and prejudice". It accused Pillay of the "relentless, politically motivated demonization of Israel and promotion of the genoLIE". "Now that the Nobel commission has rewarded the biggest lie of the 21st century, Joseph Goebbels is certainly applauding from hell," the ministry said, referring to the Nazi German propagandist. Pillay headed the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which published a report in September 2025 concluding that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The commission also accused senior Israeli leaders of inciting genocide. Israel rejected the findings, describing them as false and distorted. Israeli officials have accused the commission of pursuing a politically motivated campaign against the country. Nobel Committee says award is not a ruling on Gaza The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was not taking a position on whether Israel's military offensive in Gaza amounted to genocide, stressing that the award was not a judicial ruling on the allegations. "We have great faith in her professionalism, in her integrity, but that work is of a UN inquiry commission," Nobel Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes told AFP when asked about Pillay's report. He said the question of whether genocide had occurred was for international courts to decide, adding that "the Nobel Committee is not the court". When announcing the prize on Friday, Frydnes highlighted Pillay's work on international justice and efforts to ensure accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. He did not refer to the Gaza report or Israel in his announcement. The commission is an independent investigative body established by the UN Human Rights Council. Its findings are not a court judgment, and the commission does not speak on behalf of the United Nations as a whole. Who is Navi Pillay? Pillay served as the UN high commissioner for human rights from 2008 to 2014. Her judicial career included work at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. The Nobel Committee recognised her decades of work promoting international justice and accountability for serious international crimes. Her leadership of the Gaza inquiry has made her a target of criticism from Israeli officials, who have rejected the commission's findings and accused it of unfairly targeting Israel.