A Prize That Triggered Immediate Backlash
The Nobel Peace Prize committee has awarded its annual international peace prize to Navi Pillay, a South African and former UN human rights chief. The decision immediately drew criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UN Watch, which pointed to Pillay’s record on Israel and her defense of remarks critics say were antisemitic. After winning, Pillay joked that she might share the award with President Trump. No full transcript of the remark was provided, but it added a political edge to a prize supposed to stand above partisan brawls. What should have been a celebration of peace instead opened with a fight over whether the committee honored reconciliation or rewarded a deeply disputed record.
Netanyahu Says the Committee Lost Its Moral Compass
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answered on X with a blunt condemnation: “The Nobel Prize committee has lost its moral compass.” He called Pillay “a bigot who built her career around inventing and propagating blood libels against the one and only Jewish state.” Those are Netanyahu’s characterizations, but they explain the intensity of the backlash. Netanyahu also accused Pillay of legitimizing International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan, whom he said had been accused by his own employees of rape and sexual misconduct. Netanyahu claimed Khan then used Pillay’s claims to build what he called a fake case against Israel, tying the Nobel decision to a wider dispute over Israel, the ICC, and the credibility of international institutions.
UN Watch Challenges Pillay’s Record
UN Watch issued its own criticism from Geneva on October 9. Executive Director Hillel Neuer said the group was shocked that the committee honored Pillay, arguing that her record on antisemitism and what he called a “gross breach of ethics” while presiding over a UN commission disqualified her. He warned that the Nobel Peace Prize should uphold universal human rights and reject antisemitism, rather than risk rewarding prejudice. UN Watch also challenged the commission’s impartiality. It said Pillay accepted the chair of a Pakistani-sponsored UN Commission of Inquiry into alleged Israeli crimes in July 2021, even though she had already taken public positions on the issues under review. The group cited her signing of a June 2020 manifesto calling on governments to “Sanction Apartheid Israel” and a June 2021 letter to President Biden calling for Israel to be punished over the May 2021 war with Hamas.
Critics Point to Earlier Controversies
UN Watch further pointed to events after Pillay joined the commission. In July 2022, fellow commissioner Miloon Kothari railed against “the Jewish Lobby” and questioned Israel’s right to be a UN member state. The remarks drew condemnation from leading democracies and senior UN officials, including Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. UN Watch said Pillay defended Kothari rather than distancing herself from those comments. The organization also noted that Berlin’s mayor withdrew support in 2022 for a town hall event planned to honor Pillay, and the award was canceled.
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The Nobel Prize committee has lost its moral compass. It has awarded its highest honor to a bigot who built her career around inventing and propagating blood libels against the one and only Jewish state.
Navi Pillay’s proudest achievement was to legitimize a corrupt prosecutor…
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 9, 2026
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