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

Donald Trump's nominee for US ambassador to the United Nations has become the latest administration pick to express the view that Israel has a “biblical” right to the occupied West Bank, a stance that sharply contrasts with the position of the previous administration under President Biden.

Elise Stefanik made the comments Tuesday at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where she also pledged to further Trump's “America First” mission. "If confirmed, I am prepared to execute President Trump’s mandate from the American people to deliver America First, peace through strength national security leadership on the world stage," she stated in her opening remarks.

Stefanik explained that, if confirmed as ambassador, she would audit US funding for the UN and its subsidiary agencies. She would also seek to counter Chinese influence within the international body and reinforce Washington’s staunch support for Israel. However, her views on the West Bank are the most striking example of the clear divergence between the Trump administration and that of former President Joe Biden.

When asked if she agreed with the views of Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir that Israel has a “biblical right” to the entire West Bank, Stefanik stated unequivocally, “Yes.” She gave the affirmative response during an exchange with Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. When further pressed on whether she supported self-determination for Palestinians, Stefanik sidestepped the issue. “I think that the Palestinian people deserve better than the failed leadership that has been brought on by terrorist leaders. They certainly deserve human rights,” she said.

Over the past four years, the Biden administration has provided firm support for Israel at the UN, repeatedly vetoing UN Security Council resolutions calling for ceasefires to halt the war in Gaza. However, the administration has been willing to confront its “ironclad” ally on the issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law. Stefanik's remarks are the latest indication that the incoming Trump administration will adopt a markedly different approach.

Settlement construction surged during Trump’s first term, and his administration reversed a four-decade-old US policy that recognized expansion in the West Bank as illegal. Upon taking office on Monday, Trump reversed Biden-era sanctions on far-right Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of violence against Palestinians. Trump's nominee for US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, also supports Israeli settlements in the West Bank, citing biblical justifications. For instance, in a 2017 interview with CNN, Huckabee argued that Palestinian territories do not exist at all. “There is no such thing as the West Bank. It is Judea and Samaria,” he said, using the biblical names. And in 2008, while campaigning for president, Huckabee asserted that the Palestinian identity itself was a fiction. “I need to be careful how I say this because people get really mad. There is really no such thing as a Palestinian,” said Huckabee, who has yet to face his confirmation hearing.

Stefanik has long been one of Trump’s staunchest supporters in the US House of Representatives. However, she rose to prominence in December 2023 for her viral questioning of three university leaders from Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania, pressing them on alleged “anti-Semitism” on their campuses. Two of the three presidents resigned in the aftermath. Critics say her accusations prompted other university leaders to suppress pro-Palestinian protests on campuses out of fear of public backlash.

In her opening statement at Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, Stefanik described herself as a “leader in combating antisemitism in higher education,” citing her 2023 interactions with university presidents. “My oversight work resulted in the most-watched testimony in the history of Congress,” she said. “This hearing with university presidents was broadcast around the world and viewed billions of times.”

In response to questions from bipartisan lawmakers, Stefanik pledged to continue and expand the US tradition of supporting Israel at the UN, where the US is one of five permanent members of the Security Council with veto power. She reiterated the US position that Israel is unfairly treated at the UN and decried what she called “anti-Semitic corruption” within the organization. The US currently pays about one-fifth of the UN’s regular budget, a point of frequent ire for Trump.

On Tuesday, Stefanik promised to conduct a “full assessment of all UN affiliated agencies” to ensure that “every dollar is used to support our American interests.” She added that she would oppose any US funding going to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). US legislation passed last year prohibits funding to the agency until March 2025, which humanitarian groups say provides irreplaceable support to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. During the hearing, Stefanik also defended Israel, despite criticism from UN experts that Israel’s methods in Gaza “fit a pattern of genocide.” “It is a beacon of human rights in the region,” Stefanik said of Israel.

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