Nobel Peace Prize awarded to former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay draws outcry from Israeli officials
The Nobel Foundation awarded its 2026 Peace Prize to Navi Pillay, 85, the former U.N. human rights chief and South African-born jurist. Pillay presided over the U.N. Human Rights Council's Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, which found Israel guilty of committing genocide in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led a public response criticizing the selection.
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The Nobel Committee announced Navi Pillay as its 2026 Peace Prize laureate, citing her decades of work promoting peace and international law and describing her contributions as "a source of hope and inspiration to all those who seek to bring about a more peaceful world."
Pillay, 85, served as the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and later chaired the U.N. Human Rights Council's Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. That commission issued a finding that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks. Israel and its allies have rejected that characterization.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among the most prominent voices responding to the award. The Washington Examiner reported that Israeli officials described their reaction as outrage, with Netanyahu leading what the outlet characterized as a broader outcry over the Nobel Foundation's decision to honor Pillay.