Genesis Prize


The Genesis Prize is a $1 million annual prize awarded to people who have achieved significant professional success, in recognition of their accomplishments, contributions to humanity, and commitment to Jewish values. Genesis Lifetime Achievement Awards have also been awarded.

History

The prize was founded in 2012 with a $100 million endowment from five Russian businessmen: Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven, German Khan, Stan Polovets, and Alexander Knaster. The prize was established under the administration of the Genesis Prize Foundation, in partnership with the Israeli Prime Minister's Office and the Jewish Agency for Israel. It is commonly referred to as the "Jewish Nobel Prize".
In 2018, prize winner Natalie Portman declined to attend the prize ceremony because Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was set to give a speech at the ceremony. In 2019 Robert Kraft's award was also questioned because of his legal troubles.
In 2021, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks was awarded a posthumous Genesis Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to his widow by the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog.
, all laureates have opted to give the $1 million prize money to philanthropic causes of their choice.

Laureate selection

Members of the committee that selects Genesis Prize laureates are chosen based on their leadership and support for Jewish causes. Current and former committee members include Elie Wiesel, Meir Shamgar, Lawrence Summers, Yuli Edelstein, Jonathan Sacks, Isaac Herzog, and Natan Sharansky.
In 2020, the Foundation opened the selection process to online voting and invited the public to nominate and vote for the 2021 Genesis Prize Laureate. Close to two hundred thousand Jews on six continents participated in the voting. The final selection of the Laureate remains with the two committees.

Laureates

Genesis Prize laureates

Controversies

2018 award

According to Haaretz, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was to be the only 2018 recipient. According to a committee source, actress Natalie Portman was added as a recipient after the Israeli Prime Minister's Office learned that Netanyahu would have to publicly give the award to a critic of U.S. President Donald Trump. As consolation, Ginsburg was given a separate "Lifetime Achievement Award."
On November 7, 2017, the Foundation announced Portman as the 2018 laureate, and her decision to donate the $1 million in prize money to philanthropic programs focused on women's equality, education, economic advancement, health, and political participation. A month later, Israeli philanthropist Morris Kahn pledged another $1 million in Portman's honor, bringing the total gift to $2 million. The prize ceremony was canceled in April 2018 after Portman's representatives told the press that "recent events in Israel have been extremely distressing to her and she does not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel." Portman later claimed that she was not boycotting Israel, but that she didn't want to "appear as endorsing" Netanyahu, who was set to give a speech at the ceremony.
In January 2020, partly as a result of the Portman controversy, the Genesis Prize Foundation and the PMO terminated their agreement, ending the Prime Minister's participation in the ceremony.
In 2019, Prize Laureate Robert Kraft was named as one of more than 200 people involved in a Florida solicitation sting operation. Genesis Prize Foundation Chairman Stan Polovets said that the Prize to Kraft would not be rescinded, noting that in democratic countries "everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence." All charges against Kraft were later dropped.
Jonathan Tobin questioned whether giving an award to a famous recipient was a distraction from reinvigorating Jewish institutions.

Laureates per country

Below is a chart of all laureates per country. Some laureates are counted more than once if have multiple citizenship.
CountryNumber of laureates
United States