The Norwegian Nobel Committee named the South African jurist on Friday, citing her career on international courts and human rights. Israel condemned the choice.
Navi Pillay won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her efforts to promote peace and international law, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. Reuters reported the announcement from Oslo. Pillay, 85, is a South African jurist who has served as a judge at the International Criminal Court and as United Nations high commissioner for human rights.
The committee said the award underlined the importance of an organised international order at a time when that system is under pressure. Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes called it a message to those attacking international law, the BBC reported. The citation did not center the prize on one conflict.
Reuters noted that Pillay oversaw a UN report that concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza, a finding Israel rejected. The New York Times reported that the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the committee and said it had lost its moral compass.
Told of the prize at Nuremberg's Palace of Justice, Pillay said it must be a joke, the BBC reported. In a video described by Reuters she said that if the crowd clapped a little more she might share the prize with Trump, a joke referring to last year's laureate Maria Corina Machado giving her medal to the US president in January.
Pillay is currently serving as a judge at the International Court of Justice, Reuters said. The prize money and the December ceremony in Oslo were not detailed in the reports used here.
People Sentiments Mixed
- Jorgen Watne Frydnes said the award was a message to those attacking international law.
- Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the Nobel committee had lost its moral compass, The New York Times reported.
- Pillay joked that she might share the prize with Trump if the crowd clapped more, Reuters reported.