Israeli-American Nobel laureate says hostage return from Gaza matters more than prize

Professor Joel Mokyr, 79, a dual Israeli-American citizen who won this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics with two other recipients, says the return of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza meant more to him than receiving the highly coveted prize. 

“My heart rejoiced when the hostages returned,” Mokyr said. “Winning the prize pales in comparison. Nothing is more important than bringing our sons and daughters home. I wish the families healing from this trauma, and I hope there are never Israeli hostages again," he continued. 

Mokyr who has taught at Northwestern University in Illinois for more than 50 years, was raised in Israel and received an academic degree at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. 

While being a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, he welcomed Trump’s efforts to end the two-year war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel. 

“He has a good instinct about war; he genuinely hates bloodshed. You don’t need to be a genius to realize war is stupid, but I’m glad Trump also hates wars. That sets him apart from other Republicans like Reagan and both Bushes,” Mokyr argued. 

While welcoming Trump’s efforts to secure the return of the hostages, he still dismisses the idea that the incumbent American president deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. 

“Maybe he deserves a Nobel in medicine for his insights on the link between Tylenol and autism. But I don’t see things only through an Israeli lens. I look at what he does, he holds grudges forever. I also think his role in the hostages’ release was smaller than people think. The ceasefire was already in place when Biden left office. But I understand he’s very popular in Israel,” he assessed.

In July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented Trump with a copy of his nomination letter for the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Your leadership of the free world, your leadership of a just cause, and the pursuit of peace and security which you’re leading in many lands, but now especially in the Middle East,” Netanyahu stated at the time. However, Trump did not receive this year’s prize. 

Mokyr also addressed Trump’s failure to end the war in Ukraine and articulated concerns about the fragile situation in the combustible Middle East. 

“As for Ukraine, he completely failed. In the Middle East, the shooting stopped, and that’s wonderful. But I don’t know how long that will last in Gaza and the West Bank. Trump has a very short attention span, so it’s worrisome. The moment he sees that the path to an arrangement is getting complicated, he might just move on to something else," he warned. 

Mokyr recalled the moment he was informed that he would receive the Nobel Prize. 

“I was completely stunned. I didn’t expect it at all,” he told the Israeli business news outlet Calcalist. “There’s a long list of people who deserved it. The Nobel prize is great material for academic gossip. I was totally shocked but, as they say, I will take the money."

He argued that his friend and Israeli professor Elhanan Helpman deserved to win the prize. 

“For years, I’ve thought the Nobel Prize should go to my friend Elhanan Helpman, who is Israel’s greatest economist."

He still considers himself Israeli despite living in the U.S. for decades. 

“I have an Israeli passport and an Israeli heart,” Mokyr revealed. “This prize also says something about Israel," he added.

Fourteen Israelis have been awarded the Nobel Prize since 1948, and the Jewish state is currently ranked 13th worldwide in Nobel Prizes per capita.

The late prominent Israeli author Shmuel Agnon received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966, while the late Prime Ministers Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon Peres were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Other Israeli Nobel laureates include Robert Aumann, Dan Shechtman, Michael Levitt, and Joshua Angrist.