The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2026 Peace Prize to South African jurist Navi Pillay for her role in building international law and order, judicial integrity, and courage amid rising conflicts and political attacks on legal institutions.

The choice drew sharp criticism from President Trump, who called Pillay a “mystery person” and said the award stained Norway, and from Israeli officials, who denounced her for a UN commission report concluding that Israel’s actions in Gaza met several elements of the Genocide Convention.

Pillay has responded with mockery of the backlash, while some Israeli commentators note that her reports also documented failures to protect civilians and filled a gap left by the absence of a domestic inquiry, highlighting a deepening divide between Israel and international legal bodies.

The Nobel Peace Prize is an institution long stuffed with straw.  Established by the inventor of dynamite Alfred Nobel, its very creation suggested less contrition than a dark sense humour restless for recognition.  That humour surfaces from time to time, usually when it comes to the choice of candidates.  Former US National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger remains a delightful example, showing how a mind amenable to conflict, coups and destabilisation can still be acknowledged by a Nobel Prize committee. 

For some reason, 2026 proved to be a year when sober minds prevailed on the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Their choice of South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a former International Criminal Court (ICC) justice, was conspicuously apposite.  Her credentials positively glisten.  In addition to being a former ICC jurist she was an opponent of apartheid in the country of her birth, a previous judge of the South African High Court, a former bench member of........

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