The US needs to be a “voice of moral clarity” at the UN Security Council and at the UN in general for the world to hear the importance of standing with Israel, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY 21st District) testified Tuesday morning during her confirmation hearing as US ambassador to the UN before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Stefanik’s testimony focused on reforming the international body and upholding President Donald Trump’s policies of “America first, peace through strength, national security and leadership on the world stage.”
While committee members asked about her plans to handle China, Russia, Sudan and Haiti, a bulk of questioning centered on the UN’s relationship with Israel.
Stefanik spoke of her leadership combating antisemitism on college campuses, boasting how her oversight work led to the now infamous hearing with university presidents that became the most viewed testimony in the history of Congress.
That hearing exposed the antisemitic rot in colleges and universities and was a watershed moment in American higher education, she said.
Trump sees promise in the UN
The appointed ambassador testified that Trump sees great promise in the UN if it focuses on its founding mission of international peace and security.
“President Trump has long advocated for peace and no new wars. He delivered the Abraham Accords, the largest step to regional peace in the Middle East in a quarter century,” she said. “If confirmed, I will work to ensure that our Mission to the United Nation serves the interests of the American people.”
Stefanik said she would consider starting an “Abraham Accords caucus” within the UN to build on Trump’s success.
She spoke of the “antisemitic rot” within the UN, noting there are more resolutions targeting Israel than any other country, in any other crisis combined.
Stefanik also accused the National Security Council of antisemitism for the failure of the UN’s Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) to condemn Hamas’s use of sexual violence on October 7.
She referenced this year’s 50th anniversary of the “disgraceful” Zionism as Racism resolution at the UN, saying that she hopes to bring leadership like that of then-US ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
“President Trump has a tremendous record when it comes to standing with Israel, whether it’s the Abraham Accords, whether it’s his commitment to combating antisemitism or recognizing Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel,” Stefanik said. “This is a strong, strong record, and I hope to do that at the UN if confirmed.”
Stefanik repeated she was proud to vote for the defunding of UNRWA, adding that “we should never tolerate any US taxpayer funds going towards terrorism.”
Refusal to answer
LATER IN the hearing, Stefanik refused to directly answer whether she supports Palestinian self-determination.
When asked by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) if she subscribes to the point of view of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir that Israel has a biblical right to the West Bank, Stefanik replied, “Yes.”
Van Hollen in response said it’s going to be difficult for Trump to succeed at bringing peace and stability to the Middle East if Stefanik continues holding that view.
One of the only contentious moments of the hearing, which carried on without protest interruption, came from questioning by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) over Elon Musk’s alleged Seig Heil at Trump’s inauguration rally Sunday.
Murphy read multiple social media posts from known white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups who accepted and cheered Musk’s hand gesture as Nazi salutes.
Stefanik defended Musk, saying allegations that it was a Nazi salute is “simply not the case” and that the American people are smart and see through those allegations.
Murphy said he chose to ask about Musk’s flirtation with Nazi imagery as Stefanik and the Trump administration’s work on antisemitism “only comes with real impact and credibility if it holds both the Right and Left accountable.”
While not at Sunday’s rally, the aspiring ambassador said she’s been at many rallies with Musk “who loves to cheer” when Trump says the US needs to send a space program to Mars.
“They support Elon Musk. We are proud to be the country of such successful entrepreneurs, that is one of our greatest strengths as Americans,” she said. “We just had a historic election where President Trump earned historic support from American voters because of his strong leadership combating antisemitism, which has been a scourge across the country, skyrocketing since October 7.”
Stefanik again said she intends to bring moral clarity to the ambassador position and continue to speak out against antisemitism at the UN, which is representative of Trump’s record and promises he made on the campaign trail.