Israel a rare dissenting voice as praise pours in for Nobel Peace Prize winner Navi Pillay

Navi Pillay, a South African-born jurist and former UN human rights chief whose career has spanned from defending the rights of an imprisoned Nelson Mandela to leading a panel that found that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her efforts to promote international law as it comes under attack. Her win signals a high-profile rebuke to US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who have both rejected the findings of the UN commission she led on Gaza. The leaders also have been highly critical of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court; Pillay has worked at both. Pillay’s work “is a source of hope and inspiration to all those who seek to bring about a more peaceful world”, said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in announcing her win in Oslo, Norway, as part of the peace prize’s 125th anniversary. Read moreSouth Africa's Navi Pillay wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize The committee said it sought to strengthen international law at a time of conflict, and Watne Frydnes said Pillay’s award was a message to those seeking to undermine “the international rules-based syste...