Who is Elise Stefanik, Trump's new ambassador to the UN?

Pro-Israel hawk gained national recognition for questioning US university leaders over campus anti-Semitism

House Republican Conference chairwoman Elise Stefanik. Reuters

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Elise Stefanik, a fierce advocate for Israel, to be the next US ambassador to the UN.

Ms Stefanik, 40, is a congresswoman from New York and chairwoman of the House of Representative's Republican Conference, which whips the party's message to members.

She will replace ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the UN. Mr Trump described his nominee as a “strong, tough, and smart America First fighter”.

Elected to Congress in 2014, Ms Stefanik was initially a moderate conservative but has shifted to the right over time and now aligns closely with Mr Trump's wing of the Republican Party.

Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson congratulated her on Monday, praising her as “a fierce defender of America and the America First agenda.”

Ms Stefanik was elected chairwoman of the House Republican Conference in 2021, succeeding Liz Cheney, who became a Trump critic after his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. In this leadership role, Ms Stefanik defended Mr Trump during both impeachment trials and frequently criticised the Biden administration on issues related to Israel and the Middle East, as well as voting against spending packages that would deliver assistance to Ukraine.

Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, also welcomed her appointment.

“At a time when hate and lies fill the halls of the UN, your unwavering moral clarity is needed more than ever. Wishing you success in standing firm for truth and justice,” Mr Danon posted on the social platform X.

Throughout the Gaza war, Ms Stefanik has intensified criticism of the UN, accusing it of “entrenched anti-Semitic bias” for condemning Israel’s air strikes and ground assaults in the enclave, which have resulted in the deaths of more than 43,60 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. They began after the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2003, which killed 1,200 people.

She has embraced a definition of anti-Semitism that includes anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel, which could well influence her position at the UN as it deals with with an emboldened right-wing Israeli government.

Ms Stefanik was among a majority of members of the House of Representatives in May to have passed a bill that broadened Washington's legal definition of anti-Semitism to include the “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity".

She has endorsed a harder anti-Iran stance and has said Washington should focus on “crushing anti-Semitism at home, and supplying the state of Israel with what it needs, when it needs, without conditions, to achieve total victory in the face of evil".

Throughout Israel's war in Gaza, Ms Stefanik was a conservative bulwark against progressive campaigns to push for a ceasefire at home.

When Vice President Kamala Harris missed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the US Congress this year, Ms Stefanik accused Democrats of having “turned their back on our most precious ally Israel, instead seeking to appease the Democrat Party’s radical anti-Semitic base".

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Her acerbic questioning of US university presidents, who she accused of allowing anti-Semitism to proliferate on campuses, helped to boost her national profile and contributed to two of those presidents resigning.

She has also joined her party in working to permanently block US funding of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), alleging links between the agency and Hamas.

Ms Stefanik, who has visited Israel several times, was the highest-ranking member of Congress to do so since the Hamas attacks on October 7.

“Total victory is something too many others throughout the free world fail to understand. Total victory starts – but only starts – with wiping those responsible for October 7 off the face of the Earth. There can be no retrievable dignity for Hamas and its backers,” she told the Knesset in May 2024 after an invitation from Speaker Amir Ohana.

In May 2024, after the International Criminal Court prosecutor sought arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes, she called for Congress to impose sanctions on the court.

On the third anniversary of the Abraham Accords in September 2023, Ms Stefanik said they “moved the Middle East towards increased security and peace, contributing to co-operation in all sectors of the economy and unleashing a new era for the future of the region”.

“House Republicans will continue to stand with Israel, our strongest ally, and encourage others in the region to do so as well,” she added.