Israeli PM calls Nobel winner Pillay a ‘bigot’ against Jews

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced Nobel Peace Prize laureate Navi Pillay as a "bigot against Jews" after she labeled Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide. Pillay, a South African jurist and human rights advocate, received the prestigious award for her efforts against war crimes and crimes against humanity. She had previously headed the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

Her office accused the Nobel Committee of losing its moral compass and awarded Pillay for inventing and spreading blood libels against Israel. Israel categorically rejected the genocide allegations. The Israeli foreign ministry claimed that the Nobel Committee's decision legitimized anti-Israel hatred and likened the prize to legitimizing "the biggest lie of the 21st century."

Pillay dedicated her award to the survivors of international crimes and spoke from the Nuremberg courtroom where World War II Nazi leaders were tried. The International Criminal Court had previously found reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was responsible for war crimes in the Gaza campaign, which followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Netanyahu has consistently denied the ICC's allegations.