Navi Pillay Nobel Peace Prize draws US and Israeli fury
The Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to jurist Navi Pillay for her lifelong human rights work, triggering condemnation from Israel and the US and praise from UN leaders.
Navi Pillay has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming South Africa's fifth winner. The award for her lifelong commitment to human rights and international law has ignited a fierce international backlash alongside widespread acclaim from global institutions.
The Nobel Committee explained its choice was for Pillay's efforts to promote peace and international law, stating that a world without the rule of law is unjust and inhumane. Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes clarified the award was for her whole body of work and was not a position on whether Israel's offensive in Gaza constitutes genocide.
Israel and the United States reacted with immediate condemnation. Israel's Foreign Ministry called the award a grotesque weaponisation meant to legitimise anti-Israel hatred. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared it a gross weaponisation of the prize, adding that if there were an award for lies and blood libel, Pillay would be a frontrunner.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would punish the choice by dismantling the International Criminal Court brick by brick. Former President Donald Trump said he would impose fresh sanctions on the ICC, reposted a statement calling the committee's decision a demeaning act, and said the prize had been given to an unabashed hater of America and Israel. The ICC labelled the proposed US sanctions an assault on the rule of law.
United Nations officials and human rights groups celebrated the decision. UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the recognition reaffirmed that human rights, rule of law, and accountability are fundamental to peace. Secretary-General António Guterres called Pillay a steadfast, independent voice of justice in historic international legal cases. Amnesty International's secretary general, Agnès Callamard, who was with Pillay when she learned of the win, called her an inspired choice at a time when international law is under attack.
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted Pillay's early career as a pioneering defence attorney for anti-apartheid activists. Pillay herself, reacting from Nuremberg's Palace of Justice, initially said it must be a joke before thanking her supporters.
Pillay’s legacy in international justice
Navi Pillay's career is a landmark in international civil rights. She was the first coloured, female judge appointed to the South African High Court after defending anti-apartheid activists. She later served as president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which focused on the 1994 genocide, and was elected as a judge to the International Criminal Court in 2003.
Her recent roles have placed her at the centre of major contemporary human rights investigations. She currently serves as a judge on the International Court of Justice in the case where Myanmar stands accused of genocide against the Rohingya, which Myanmar denies. From 2021 to 2025, she chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, established by the UN Human Rights Council.
Findings on Gaza and international response
The UN commission Pillay chaired concluded that Israel had committed genocidal acts in Gaza. It found that former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant had incited the commission of genocide through his statements. The same report accused Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups of committing war crimes and other grave violations for the 7 October 2023 attacks, which killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.
Israel rejected the findings entirely, accusing the commission's members of serving as Hamas proxies. The country's Foreign Ministry stated that Pillay's role in the relentless, politically motivated demonisation of Israel speaks volumes. The three-member expert panel had no legal authority and did not speak officially for the UN.
Broader human rights advocacy
Pillay's advocacy extends beyond these high-profile investigations. She has long been a critic of Australia's refugee policies, condemning its mandatory detention and offshore processing arrangements. She has also criticised the Northern Territory's imperialist, discriminatory attitude towards Indigenous communities. A year before the Nobel, she received the Sydney Peace Prize, which recognised a lifetime of advocating for the fundamental human rights of women, including campaigns to abolish female genital mutilation.
In her UN report on Gaza, she concluded that the State of Israel bears responsibility for the failure to prevent genocide, the commission of genocide, and the failure to punish genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Current role and personal context
At 85 years old, Navi Pillay continues her judicial work. She remains a judge at the International Court of Justice in the case where Myanmar is accused by The Gambia of genocide against the Rohingya people. A Myanmar government representative told the court in January that the genocide allegation was unsubstantiated.
The New Zealand government has issued no statement about Pillay's Nobel Prize. Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong supported a different nominee for the 2025 prize, Venezuelan winner María Corina Machado, who handed her prize to Donald Trump. Navi Pillay continues to serve as a judge at the International Court of Justice in the case where Myanmar is accused of genocide against the Rohingya.
