US Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) speaks during a House Education and The Workforce Committee hearing titled ‘Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism’ on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, Dec. 5, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

During Tuesday’s Senate confirmation hearings, US Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as United Nations (UN) ambassador, lambasted the “antisemitic rot” in the UN, vowing to restore “moral clarity” at the intergovernmental organization. 

“If you look at the antisemitic rot within the United Nations, there are more resolutions targeting Israel than any other country, any other crisis combined,” Stefanik said.

Stefanik continued by pointing out that members of the UN have refused to emphatically condemn the widely-corroborated and evidenced claims of systemic rape of Israeli women on Oct. 7 by the Hamas terrorist group. The congresswoman said she was “overjoyed” at the recent return of three Israeli female hostages — Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari — from the clutches of Hamas, which was made possible by the recent ceasefire deal between the Jewish state and the terrorist group. 

“We need to stay committed to ensuring every hostage is brought home. I’ve met with many hostage families. This position — we need to be a voice of moral clarity on the UN Security Council and at the United Nations at large, for the world to hear the importance of standing with Israel, and I intend to do that,” Stefanik said. 

Stefanik, one of the most stalwart allies of the Jewish state in Congress, reflected on the upcoming 50th anniversary of the controversial and “disgraceful” UN General Assembly Resolution 3379, which defined Zionism as “a form of racism and discrimination.” 

“At the time, our UN ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan spoke out strongly against that disgraceful resolution. That is the type of leadership that I hope to bring if confirmed to the United Nations,” Stefanik said. 

Beyond the UN, Stefanik also discussed her views on potential West Bank annexation. Stefanik fielded questions from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), one of the most vociferous critics of Israel in the Senate, regarding her view on the West Bank. Van Hollen asked Stefanik whether she agrees with right-wing Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that the Jewish state has a “biblical right to the entire West Bank.” 

“Yes,” Stefanik replied. 

Van Hollen responded that expanding Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank would prevent “peace and stability” in the Middle East. He encouraged her to rethink her position, urging her to consider the existing UN Security Council resolutions regarding the West Bank. 

Van Hollen and Stefanik also tussled over whether Palestinians deserve “self determination” in the form of their own state. Van Hollen asserted that Stefanik privately expressed her support for a Palestinian state. However, Stefanik accused the Senator of misrepresenting her viewpoint, instead saying that Palestinians “deserve so much better than the failures they’ve had from terrorist leadership.” 

In the year following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel, Stefanik has established herself as one of the most vocal allies of the Jewish state. 

While serving on the Education and the Workforce Committee, Stefanik has lambasted administrators of elite universities for their mealy-mouthed condemnations of antisemitism and tolerance of anti-Jewish violence on campus. In December 2023, Stefanik engaged in a fiery back-and-forth with the presidents of Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology over  purported antisemitic campus atmospheres.

During the 2024 presidential election, Stefanik cut a video with the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), encouraging Jewish voters to throw their support behind Donald Trump. 

“This is the most important election cycle in our lifetime, and as we have seen on college campuses, the rot of antisemitism is real in the Democratic Party,” Stefanik said.

RJC — an organization which works to enhance ties between the Republican party and the Jewish community — praised Stefanik’s performance during the confirmation hearings. 

“By nominating Rep. [Elise] Stefanik to be the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, President Trump has sent a clear message: that we will stand by our cherished ally Israel and fight back against the vile antisemitism running rampant in Turtle Bay,” RJC wrote on X/Twitter. “RJC is proud to support Rep. Stefanik’s nomination, and strongly urges all US Senators to swiftly confirm her,” RJC continued.