Trump’s UN ambassador pick says Israel has ‘biblical right’ to West Bank

President Donald Trump’s prime to beryllium the United States ambassador to the United Nations has go the latest medication nominee to explicit the content that Israel has “biblical” dominion implicit the occupied West Bank.

Elise Stefanik’s remark connected Tuesday came during her confirmation proceeding earlier the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wherever she besides pledged to further Trump’s “America First” mission.

“If confirmed, I basal acceptable to instrumentality President Trump’s mandate from the American radical to present America First, peace-through-strength nationalist information enactment connected the satellite stage,” she said during her opening statements.

If confirmed arsenic ambassador, Stefanik explained she would audit US backing for the UN and its constellation of agencies. She would besides question to antagonistic China’s power astatine the planetary organisation and bolster Washington’s staunch enactment for Israel.

But it was her views connected the West Bank that signalled the starkest opposition betwixt the Trump medication and that of his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

Stefanik was definitive erstwhile asked if she shared the presumption of far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and erstwhile National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir that Israel has a “biblical close to the full West Bank”.

“Yes,” she replied during the speech with Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen.

When pushed if she supported self-determination for Palestinians, Stefanik sidestepped the question.

“I judge the Palestinian radical merit truthful overmuch amended than the failures that they’ve had from violent leaders,” she said. “Of course, they merit quality rights.”

A wider shift

Over the past 4 years, the Biden medication provided resolute enactment for Israel astatine the UN. It repeatedly vetoed UN Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire to halt Israel’s warfare successful Gaza.

However, the medication had been consenting to basal up to its “ironclad” state connected the contented of Israeli settlements successful the occupied West Bank. Such settlements are considered amerciable nether planetary law.

Stefanik’s comments were the latest denotation that the incoming Trump medication would instrumentality a precise antithetic tack.

Trump’s archetypal word saw a surge successful settlements, with his medication removing a four-decade-long US argumentation that recognised the enlargement into the West Bank arsenic illegal.

Upon taking bureau connected Monday, Trump cancelled Biden-era sanctions connected far-right Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of unit against Palestinians.

Trump’s prime to beryllium the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has besides supported Israeli settlements successful the West Bank, citing the Bible arsenic justification. In a 2017 interrogation with CNN, for instance, Huckabee argued that the Palestinian territory did not beryllium astatine all.

“There is nary specified happening arsenic a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria,” helium said, utilizing a biblical name.

And successful 2008, erstwhile helium was campaigning for the presidency, Huckabee asserted that the Palestinian individuality itself was a fiction.

“I request to beryllium cautious astir saying this, due to the fact that radical volition truly get upset. There’s truly nary specified happening arsenic a Palestinian,” Huckabee, who has not yet faced a confirmation hearing, said astatine the time.

‘Standing with Israel’

Stefanik has agelong been 1 of Trump’s astir ardent defenders successful the US House of Representatives.

In December 2023, however, she roseate to a caller level of prominence with her viral questioning of 3 assemblage leaders from Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, pressing them implicit alleged “anti-Semitism” connected campus. Two of the 3 presidents resigned successful the aftermath.

Critics person said her accusations helped spur different assemblage leaders to ace down connected pro-Palestinian protests connected campus, retired of fearfulness of nationalist backlash.

In her opening code astatine Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, Stefanik hailed herself arsenic “the person successful combating anti-Semitism successful higher education”, citing her 2023 enactment with the assemblage presidents.

“My oversight enactment led to the most-viewed grounds successful the past of Congress,” she said. “This proceeding with assemblage presidents was heard astir the satellite and viewed billions of times.”

Responding to questions from bipartisan lawmakers, Stefanik pledged to proceed — and widen — the US bequest of enactment for Israel astatine the UN. The US is 1 of 5 imperishable members of the UN Security Council and truthful wields veto power.

She repeated the US presumption that Israel is unfairly targeted by the UN, decrying what she called “anti-Semitic rot” wrong the organisation.

The US presently pays astir one-fifth of the UN’s regular budget, a regular constituent of ire for Trump.

On Tuesday, Stefanik promised “a afloat appraisal of each the UN sub-agencies” to marque definite “that each dollar [goes] to enactment our American interests”.

She added she would reason immoderate US funds going to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Legislation passed by the US Congress past twelvemonth bans backing done March 2025 for the agency, which humanitarian groups accidental provides irreplaceable enactment to Palestinians successful some the West Bank and Gaza.

In her hearing, Stefanik besides defended Israel, contempt criticisms from UN experts that its methods successful Gaza are “consistent with genocide”.

“It is simply a beacon of quality rights successful the region,” Stefanik said of Israel.

Stefanik’s proceeding came conscionable hours aft erstwhile Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s prime for caput of state, became the archetypal subordinate of the incoming medication to beryllium sworn in.