Trump’s nominee for UN envoy affirms that Israel has a “biblical right” to occupy the West Bank

The nominee of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, for representative to the United Nations, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, stated this Tuesday in a Senate committee that Israel has a “biblical right” to occupy the West Bank.

Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen has asked Stefanik if she agrees with the positions of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on this alleged right of Israel. “Yes,” the New York representative responded emphatically.

The two had a tense exchange after Van Hollen urged Stefanik to answer another question asking whether to “achieve long-term peace and stability in the Middle East” it is necessary to guarantee “human rights and the rights of self-determination.” of both Israelis and Palestinians.

“That was not the question we discussed,” the nominee stressed before the commission, alluding to a meeting she previously had with Van Hollen in which she shared in advance her vision of the situation in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

“I think it is a shame that Hamas and Hezbollah have stripped the Palestinian people of their rights and we must make sure that we defend Human Rights and that Israel defends Human Rights. It is a beacon of Human Rights in the region,” Stefanik added.

On the other hand, Van Hollen has responded that it will be “very difficult” to achieve peace in the Middle East if Stefanik “maintains the opinion she has just expressed.” “It is a position that was not shared by the founders of the State of Israel, who were secular Zionists, not religious Zionists,” he concluded.

This Monday, Trump revoked the sanctions against Israeli settlers in the West Bank, extended last week by his predecessor, Joe Biden, a decision applauded by Smotrich, who has called for expanding the settlements.

International Law considers all settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories illegal, although the Government of Israel differentiates between those to which it has given permission and those to which it has not, which are the only ones it considers contrary to its national legislation.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) affirmed in July that the Israeli settlement policy is contrary to the Fourth Geneva Convention on the forced displacement of people and that, with regard to the exploitation of natural resources and the imposition of national laws , is constitutive of an annexation effort and contrary to International Law.