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Elise Stefanik Calls Out ‘Antisemitic Rot’ At United Nations, Vows To Stress ‘The Importance of Standing With Israel’
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, Rep. Elise Stefanik (D-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 anti-Semitic 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 Moynahan 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 tusseled 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 Palestinains “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 Isarel, 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 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.
The post Elise Stefanik Calls Out ‘Antisemitic Rot’ At United Nations, Vows To Stress ‘The Importance of Standing With Israel’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.