Joseph Gedeon
The Guardian / January 21, 2025
Elise Stefanik’s comments at Senate hearing align her with Israeli far right and highlight US-UN rifts over Israel policy
Wahington – Donald Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to the United Nations has endorsed Israeli claims of biblical rights to the entire West Bank during a Senate confirmation hearing, aligning herself with positions that could complicate diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.
The New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a Republican, was confronted on Tuesday over her backing of a position that aligns her with the Israeli far right, including Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and former national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
“You told me that, yes, you shared that view,” the Democratic Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen said during questioning. “Is that your view today?”
“Yes,” Stefanik said.
Stefanik’s confirmation hearing highlighted the rifts between the US and UN over Israel policy – of which the US is the UN’s single largest funder. The US – which houses the secretariat in midtown New York City – pays about $3.6bn, or 22%, of the UN’s regular budget, with China second at 15.25% and Japan roughly at 8%.
And while the position puts Stefanik at odds with longstanding international consensus and multiple UN security council resolutions regarding Israeli settlements in occupied territories, it remains sharply in line with widespread Trump administration posturing.
Mike Huckabee, Trump’s ambassador to Israel, has echoed similar sentiments over Israel’s sovereignty, declaring “there’s no such thing as a West Bank” during a 2017 visit to Israel. Huckabee has also dismissed Palestinian identity entirely, once claiming “there’s no such thing as a Palestinian”.
Stefanik’s statement came hours after Donald Trump rescinded US sanctions on far-right settler groups and individuals accused of involvement in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, which also coincided with Israel’s military launching a “large scale and significant” operation in the territory.
Health authorities in the region said at least nine people were killed and dozens injured.
Critics of Stefanik’s position such as Van Hollen also argue that endorsing biblical claims to disputed territories could undermine US credibility as a mediator in the region, and could complicate efforts to advance a two-state solution, which has been the cornerstone of American Middle East policy for decades.
“It’s going to be very difficult to achieve peace if you continue to hold the view that you just expressed,” Van Hollen said.
The US has historically been Israel’s strongest and most consistent diplomatic backer across Democratic and Republican administrations at the UN, alongside a string of smaller island nations.
The United States has vetoed 49 security council resolutions directed at Israel since 1970, according to the Jewish Virtual Library, including five since 7 October 2023.
The exchange comes at a particularly sensitive moment for US-UN relations, following months of escalating disputes over the international body’s role in the Middle East conflict.
Earlier last year, the US suspended funding to UNRWA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, after allegations that some staff members participated in the 7 October Hamas attacks.
Stefanik again criticized what she has called anti-Israel bias at the UN, dismissing the institution as a “cesspool of antisemitism” and echoing Trump administration positions that led to US withdrawal from the UN human rights council and UNESCO during his first term.
“Our tax dollars should not be complicit in propping up entities that are counter to American interests, antisemitic, or engaging in fraud, corruption or terrorism,” Stefanik said.
Stefanik’s stance reflects her broader political evolution from a moderate Republican who initially criticized Trump’s rhetoric and behaviour to one of his staunchest defenders.
After condemning the January 6 Capitol attack as “absolutely unacceptable” and that they “must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law” in a now-deleted press release, she later voted to remove representative Liz Cheney from House leadership for criticizing Trump’s election fraud claims, and has become one of the former president’s most vocal supporters on Capitol Hill.
Joseph Gedeon is a politics breaking news reporter based in Washington
