WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday amplified a blistering statement attacking the selection of Navi Pillay, a former United Nations official who accused Israel of genocide, for the prestigious annual Nobel Peace Prize.
“Today the Nobel Committee shamed itself beyond repair and demeaned the once great Nobel Peace Prize by giving it to the UN’s Navi Pillay. Pillay is an unabashed hater of America and Israel,” said the statement, reposted by Trump and issued by the Alabama- and Georgia-based Schoen Law Firm.
The statement accused Pillay of celebrating terrorists, rewarding Hamas and conducting what it called a “phony” investigation that concluded Israel had committed genocide and should face prosecution. It also questioned her credibility and record on peace, while criticizing the committee’s previous decision to award the prize to Yasser Arafat.
Trump had not yet addressed the Nobel Committee’s decision in his own words. For years, however, he has argued that he deserved the prize for his efforts to mediate international conflicts and urged the panel to recognize his work.
Pillay, a South African-born lawyer of Indian heritage, chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory from 2021 through 2025.
KEEP READING: Mother Finds Ex and Two Children Shot Dead in Suspected Murder-Suicide
In September 2025, the commission concluded that Israel had committed genocide during its war in Gaza against Hamas.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the decision, saying in a statement that “Joseph Goebbels is certainly applauding from hell,” referring to Nazi Germany’s propaganda chief.
“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 said.
The ministry added that giving Pillay the Nobel Peace Prize was not a recognition of justice, but rather “the grotesque weaponization of an award to legitimize anti-Israel hatred and prejudice.”
