The Nobel Peace Prize, Navi Pillay, argues that Netanyahu should be judged for inciting genocide in Gaza.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Navi Pillay, defends that Netanyahu should be judged for inciting genocide in Gaza Pillay, furthermore, has rejected the criticisms from the Israeli Executive regarding her figure as "lacking foundation" and an "unjustified reaction," arguing that they stem from a desire to discredit Israel for political reasons. The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize winner, the South African jurist Navi Pillay, has defended the conclusions of the United Nations commission on human rights abuses in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which she chaired between 2021 and 2025, which concluded that Israeli authorities had committed genocide in the Gaza Strip. Thus, she has stated that the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, among other authorities, "should be judged" for inciting genocide in the Palestinian enclave. "Our recommendation, our conclusion, is that the president (Isaac Herzog), Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the former Minister of Defense (Yoav Gallant) should be judged," Pillay stated in an interview with Sky News, in which she emphasized that the three "should be prosecuted by national courts or by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is the international court with the greatest probability of being able to judge these people." Following this, she wanted to remind that "the purpose of the Genocide Convention is to prevent genocide." "The world does not want to wait for a genocide to happen and then react. It is already too late: thousands of people die in these genocidal attacks," she warned, emphasizing that precisely for this reason, "the objective of all States" signatory to the Convention was to establish that, "as soon as it was known that a genocidal conflict could be taking place, action had to be taken to prevent it." "It is a legal obligation that falls on all States, even if genocide does not occur on their own territory," she added. Pillay has also rejected the criticisms from the Israeli Executive regarding her figure as "lacking foundation" and an "unjustified reaction," arguing that they stem from a desire to discredit Israel for political reasons. "The State of Israel welcomed me with open arms. I was the only high commissioner for Human Rights who received an invitation from Israel to conduct a mission in the country," the Nobel laureate indicated in the same interview, where she pointed out that only when she became president of the commission did she begin "receiving those abusive comments" accusing her of "anti-Semitism and, now, of partiality." "The report, which concludes that Israel committed genocide, was based on evidence from Israel itself," she stressed, pointing out that "the Government had prohibited about eight very well-known bodies within Israel from sharing information with the commission and the International Criminal Court, clearly with the aim of ensuring that what they were doing remained hidden." Prefers not to enter into a confrontation with Trump Likewise, when asked about the statements of the United States president, Donald Trump, regarding her being the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Navi Pillay stressed that she "would prefer not to enter into a personal confrontation with him" and that the American leader "has ambitions: he desires to receive this peace prize." Nevertheless, she observed "many irresponsible statements" by the occupant of the White House, to whom she "wishes that his legal advisors would strive to inform him about International Law, international justice, the rule of law, and to what extent it has been applied." "They should also be reminded that the United States took the initiative: Judge (Robert) Jackson was the chief prosecutor in the Nuremberg courts," she added, alleging that "one cannot be selective once a system is established that one supports oneself." COMMENTS To comment on this article you must be a subscriber. Latest Most read 1. 2. 4. 5. Some read, others inform. Take advantage of this unique offer. Digital Plan +$4,120 per month, until the end of the year SUBSCRIBE