Israel’s Foreign Ministry has unleashed a blistering attack following the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Navi Pillay, a former International Criminal Court (ICC) judge who later chaired a controversial UN investigation accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Pillay, an 85-year-old South African jurist and former UN human rights chief, has spent decades in international law, including serving as an ICC judge from 2003 to 2008.

But it was her leadership of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry into Israel and the Palestinian territories that placed her at the center of a fierce international controversy.

In September 2025, the commission accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, allegations Israel categorically rejected as politically motivated and biased.

Following the Nobel announcement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded with extraordinary language.

“If there were an award for lies, hatred, and blood libels, Navi Pillay wouldn’t just be a contender. She’d be a frontrunner.”

The ministry accused Pillay of relentlessly demonizing Israel and promoting what it called the “genoLIE.”

Then came its most explosive statement:

“Now that the Nobel commission has rewarded the biggest lie of the 21st century, Joseph Goebbels is certainly applauding from hell.”

Goebbels served as Nazi Germany’s propaganda minister and was a central figure in spreading antisemitic propaganda during the Holocaust.

Pillay’s UN commission operated separately from the ICC and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is hearing South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

Israel maintains that its military campaign in Gaza was directed against Hamas following the October 7, 2023 massacre, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

The Nobel Committee has highlighted Pillay’s decades of work in international justice and human rights.

Israel, however, argues that honoring the former ICC judge rewards an investigation it considers deeply prejudiced against the Jewish state.

The controversy has now placed one of the world’s most prestigious peace awards at the center of an international confrontation over accusations of genocide, antisemitism, and the credibility of UN investigations.