New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik will be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under the new Donald Trump administration. It was Stefanik who brought down Harvard President Claudine Gay during the harsh interrogation to which she and other university presidents were subjected by the Committee on Education and Labor charged with persecuting pro-protests. -Palestinian women on campus.
“It is an honor to nominate Congresswoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough and intelligent fighter. [la política] “America first,” Trump said in a statement sent Monday, according to CNN.
Now Stefanik, who calls protests against the war in Gaza “anti-Semitic,” is the one who will be responsible for voting (and vetoing) Security Council resolutions and any proposals to the UN. Among which will also be included all those related to the Palestinian question. Beyond rewarding the work accomplished to successfully lead one of the Republican Party’s main causes, the congresswoman’s election is a clear nod in favor of Israel and the country’s pro-Israel lobbies.
Stefanik was one of the Republican Party members who accompanied Trump to the opening of the Israeli-American Council (IAC) national summit held in Washington in September. As soon as he arrived on stage, the now president-elect showed his chest while recounting how his party had brought down the chancellor of Harvard. “[Stefanik] totally destroyed the chancellor of Harvard. You saw her there with her big glasses, these big glasses… and she asked him a simple question and, ultimately, she didn’t have a very good answer,” he said with a certain mockery.
The question Trump was referring to was: “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate the university’s standards of conduct?” Gay responded that if speech “transforms into behavior, it can be harassment,” a view also shared by University of Pennsylvania Chancellor Elizabeth Magill. The Harvard president tried to develop her argument on the issue, until Stefanik burst out: “It doesn’t depend on the context. The answer is yes. And that’s why you should resign. These responses are unacceptable.
For Stefanik and much of the Republican Party, slogans like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” are seen as a call for the “genocide of the Jews” in Israel. In fact, much of the arguments used to persecute the camps that took place in the spring and the protests that have continued are based on these interpretations of the songs.
Also among the IAC audience was Dr. Miriam Adelson, who, since the death of her husband, Sheldon Adelson, has taken on the role of lobbyist in a private capacity. Her late husband was a major conservative donor to the Republican Party. Adelson, one of the world’s richest women, is intensely pro-Israel, as is her husband.
Adelson injected $100 million into Trump campaign, says The time of Israel. Now that the Republican will return to the White House, he will be one of the private figures with the most influence on North American foreign policy. The Hamas attack on October 7 last year deeply angered Adelson. The choice of Stefanik as ambassador to the UN also corresponds to the position of the mega-donor.
Before becoming known for her role in the Harvard president’s resignation, Stefanik spent years positioning herself in the mogul’s inner circles as one of the biggest allies and confidants in the halls of Congress. She supported Trump in the 2024 campaign before he even launched his candidacy and campaigned aggressively for him in the Republican Party primaries.
Stefanik’s history within the Republican Party is similar to that of others like JD Vance: at first, the New York congresswoman positioned herself as a moderate voice among Republicans, but gradually she turned into the MAGA (Make America Great Again) orbit. ) which quickly allowed him to rise through the ranks under Trump’s endorsement.
Under the Democratic administration of Joe Biden, one of the most pro-Israeli in US history, a ceasefire resolution was vetoed up to three times and they also voted against recognizing Palestine as a full member state. Stefanik could follow the same line or even go further.
