Trump taps pro-Israel stalwart to be next US envoy to UN

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday that he has selected staunchly pro-Israel Representative Elise Stefanik to be the US's next envoy to the UN.

"I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter," Trump said in a statement, according to multiple reports.

CNN reported Sunday that Trump offered Stefanik the job.

The lawmaker from upstate New York is the fourth-highest ranking Republican in the House of Representatives where she chairs the Republican Conference. A graduate of Harvard University, Stefanik has been a rising star among Trump's allies after refashioning herself from a moderate Republican to a MAGA stalwart.

Stefanik has long been a vocal critic of the UN, where she is slated to set up shop after Trump assumes office on Jan. 20, 2025, and has accused the international body of anti-Semitism for its criticism of Israel's war on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Just last week, Stefanik called for the US to defund the UN's Palestine refugee agency after Israel's parliament passed a pair of laws strictly curtailing UNRWA's ability to function in Israel. She accused the agency, which provides vital services to millions of Palestinian refugees displaced across the Middle East, of being "Hamas-infiltrated."

Stefanik has also staunchly criticized the UN's opposition to Israel's illegal settlements in the West Bank, using Israel's moniker "Judea and Samaria" to referred to the occupied Palestinian territory.

“I am demanding Joe Biden show strength on the world stage and clearly condemn the blatant anti-Israel bias in the United Nations," she said in a February 2023 statement as the UN Security Council was preparing to vote on a resolution condemning Israel's settlements.

"Joe Biden must not abandon our ally and shamefully cave to the UN’s agenda. I am proud to always stand with our ally Israel, and call on the Biden Administration do the same," she added.