President Donald Trump’s choice to be United States Ambassador to the United Nations He became the latest administration nominee to express his belief that Israel has “scriptural” control over the occupied West Bank.

Elise Stefanik’s comment came Tuesday during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where she also pledged to advance Trump’s “America First” mission.

“If confirmed, I stand ready to carry out President Trump’s mandate from the American people to achieve America First and to lead the national security of peace through strength on the global stage,” she said during her opening remarks.

Stefanik explained that if she was appointed ambassador, she would review US funding for the United Nations and its group of agencies. It will also seek to counter China’s influence in the international body and strengthen Washington’s strong support for Israel.

But it was her views on the West Bank that pointed to the stark contrast between the Trump administration and that of his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

Stefanik was emphatic when asked whether she agreed with the view of far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir that Israel has a “biblical right to the entire West Bank.”

“Yes,” she answered during the conversation with Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen.

When asked if she supports Palestinian self-determination, Stefanik sidestepped the question.

She said: “I believe that the Palestinian people deserve much better than the failures they have been subjected to at the hands of terrorist leaders.” “Of course, they deserve human rights.”

Wider transformation

Over the past four years, the Biden administration has provided firm support for Israel at the United Nations. It has repeatedly used its veto power against UN Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire to stop the Israeli war in Gaza.

However, the administration was prepared to stand up to its “tough” ally on the issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Such settlements are considered illegal under international law.

Stefanik’s comments were the latest indication that the incoming Trump administration will take a very different path.

Trump’s first term saw a boom in settlements, as his administration reversed four decades of US policy that recognized West Bank expansion as illegal.

Upon taking office on Monday, Trump Canceled Biden-era sanctions on far-right Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of committing violence against Palestinians.

Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick to be US ambassador to Israel, also supported Israeli settlements in the West Bank, citing the Bible as justification. In a 2017 interview with CNN, for example, Huckabee said Argue And that Palestinian land never existed.

“There is no such thing as the West Bank. It is Judea and Samaria,” he said, using a biblical name.

In 2008, when Huckabee was campaigning for president He confirmed And that Palestinian identity itself was a fantasy.

“I need to be careful when I say this, because people are going to get really upset. There is actually no such thing as a Palestinian,” Huckabee, who has yet to face a confirmation hearing, said at the time.

“Standing with Israel”

Stefanik has been one of Trump’s most ardent defenders in the US House of Representatives.

However, in December 2023, she rose to a new level of fame with her Viral interrogation Three university leaders from Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania, to press them about alleged “anti-Semitism” on campus. Two of the three presidents resigned in the aftermath.

Critics said her accusations helped motivate other university leaders to suppress pro-Palestinian protests on campus, fearing public backlash.

In her opening remarks during Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, Stefanik praised herself as a “leader in the fight against anti-Semitism in higher education,” citing her interactions with university presidents in 2023.

“My oversight work led to the most-watched testimony in congressional history,” she said. “This hearing with university presidents around the world has been heard and viewed billions of times.”

In response to questions from lawmakers from both parties, Stefanik pledged to continue — and expand — the American legacy of support for Israel at the United Nations. The United States is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and therefore has veto power.

She reiterated the American position that Israel is being unfairly targeted by the United Nations, and denounced what she called “anti-Semitic rot” within the organization.

The United States currently pays about a fifth of the United Nations’ regular budget, a recurring point of anger for Trump.

On Tuesday, Stefanik promised to conduct a “full assessment of all UN sub-agencies” to ensure that “every dollar [goes] To support our American interests.”

She added that she would oppose any American funds going to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Legislation passed by the US Congress last year prohibits funding for the agency until March 2025, which humanitarian groups say provides irreplaceable support to Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

At the hearing, Stefanik also defended Israel, though Criticisms from United Nations experts Its methods in Gaza are “consistent with genocide.”

“It is a beacon of human rights in the region,” Stefanik said of Israel.

Stefanik’s hearing came just hours after former Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, became the first member of the incoming administration to be sworn in.