Nobel Prize banquet attendance limited to selected ambassadors from Hungary, Canada, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and Norway

This year, attendance at the Nobel Prize ceremony’s banquet is limited to ambassadors from the laureates’ countries, along with Norway’s ambassador and the dean of the diplomatic corps, who is the longest-serving ambassador in Sweden. Traditionally, all ambassadors are invited to the awards ceremony, but only the aforementioned are typically included in the banquet invitation. The invited ambassadors this year are from Hungary, Canada, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Norway.

Notably absent from this year’s guest list are the ambassadors of Israel and Palestine, a decision that the Nobel Foundation states is unrelated to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The Foundation emphasizes that its core mission during the award ceremony has always been to highlight the achievements of the winners and communicate their work, despite ongoing discussions and criticisms surrounding the guest list.

Palestinian ambassador Rula Almhaissen has publicly criticized the Foundation’s choice on social media, suggesting that the decision is a response to calls for excluding Israeli officials from participation. However, the Nobel Foundation denies any connection to such claims, pointing out that debates about the guest list have been common in previous years. Last year, for instance, the Foundation announced it would not invite ambassadors from Russia, Iran, and Belarus after political pushback regarding those invitations.