Trump's UN Ambassador Pick Asserts Israel's 'Biblical Right' to West Bank

Trump’s UN Ambassador Pick Asserts Israel’s ‘Biblical Right’ to West Bank

The president’s choice for the position of United States ambassador to the United Nations has become the latest presidential nominee to affirm that Israel is a sovereign nation with “biblical” dominion over the West Bank. West Bank.

Elise Stefanik’s comments on Tuesday was made during her confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which she committed to advancing the president’s “America First” mission.

“If confirmed, I stand ready to implement President Trump’s mandate from the American people to deliver America First, peace-through-strength national security leadership on the world stage,” she said during her opening statements.

If she is confirmed as ambassador, Stefanik stated that she would conduct an audit of US funds for the UN and its array of agencies. She will also try to limit China’s influence in the international organization and strengthen Washington’s steadfast support for Israel.

But it was her stance regarding and the West Bank that signalled the most stark contrast between the Trump administration and the president before him, Joe Biden.

Stefanik was unambiguous when asked if they shared the opinion of extreme-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and the former Secretary of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir who believed that Israel has an “biblical right to the entire West Bank”.

“Yes,” she replied during the discussion between her and Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen.

When asked if she was in favor of the right of self-determination for Palestinians, Stefanik sidestepped the issue.

“I believe the Palestinian people deserve so much better than the failures that they’ve had from terrorist leaders,” she added. “Of course, they deserve human rights.”

A wider shift

In the past four years during the last four years, the Biden administration has been a firm supporter in support of Israel within the UN. It repeatedly rejected UN Security Council resolutions calling for a cease-fire to end Israel’s conflict in Gaza.

Keep reading:

But, the administration has shown willingness to confront it’s “ironclad” ally on the issue of Israeli settlements in the occupation of the West Bank. These settlements are considered illegal in international law.

Stefanik’s comments are the latest evidence that the new Trump administration would adopt an entirely different direction.

The first year of Trump’s presidency saw an increase in settlements, thanks to his administration ending a four-decade-long US policy that acknowledged settlements that extended into West Bank as illegal.

When he took the oath the day after his inauguration, Trump removed the Biden-era sanctions against extremist Israeli settler groups as well as individuals who have been accused of committing violent acts against Palestinians.

Trump’s nominee for US Ambassador for Israel, Mike Huckabee, has also been a proponent of Israeli settlements on the West Bank, citing the Bible as a reason. In an interview in 2017 with CNN as an example, Huckabee argued that the Palestinian territory didn’t exist in any way.

“There isn’t a term as West Bank. The West Bank is Judea as well as Samaria,” he said by using the biblical name.

In 2008, as Huckabee was running for president, Huckabee asserted that the Palestinian identity was in itself an untruth.

“I must be cautious when I say this, as people could be really angry. There’s no way to be an Palestinian,” Huckabee, who is yet to face an affirmation hearing, said at the moment.

‘Standing with Israel’

Stefanik has been a long-time one of Trump’s staunchest supporters within his US House of Representatives.

In the month of December 2023 she climbed to the heights of her fame through her controversial questions on three college officials who were from Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, pressing the three leaders on the alleged “anti-Semitism” on campus. Three of the presidents quit in the wake of the incident.

Many critics have said that her claims have prompted other university officials to repress student protests that are pro-Israeli, because they were afraid of the backlash from the public.

In her address to the opening of the confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Stefanik declared herself “the leader in combating anti-Semitism in higher education”, she cited her 2023 conversation with university presidents.

“My oversight work led to the most-viewed testimony in the history of Congress,” she added. “This hearing with university presidents was heard around the world and viewed billions of times.”

In response to the questions of lawmakers from both parties, Stefanik pledged to continue — and expand -and extend – and extend the US history of support to Israel in the UN. The US is among the five permanent participants in the UN Security Council and therefore has the power to veto.

She reiterated her US assertion that Israel is targeted unfairly by the UN in a denial of the “anti-Semitic rot” within the organization.

The US currently contributes around one-fifth of the annual UN budget, which is a frequent source of anger for Trump.

The previous Tuesday Stefanik offered “a full assessment of all the UN sub-agencies” to ensure “that every dollar [goes] to support our American interests”.

She said she’d be opposed to any US money that go towards UNRWA. UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The legislation passed by the US Congress last year prohibits the agency from funding until March 2025. the agency, which human rights groups claim provides unrivalled support to Palestinians who live in Gaza and the West Bank and Gaza.

In her trial, Stefanik also defended Israel despite critiques by UN experts who say that Israel’s practices are in Gaza have been “consistent with genocide”.

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

Stefanik’s testimony came within hours of when former senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick as secretary of state was the first member of the administration that is about to be sworn into office.

Source: Al Jazeera