World
Trump's pick for UN ambassador hailed by Israeli minister as 'warrior against antisemitism’
TEL AVIV – The Trump administration will do more than its predecessor to combat the tidal wave of Jew-hatred unleashed by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli told Fox News Digital.
Chikli noted that, when confirmed, the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, former Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., will enter into one of the epicenters of the global assault on the Jewish people and their state.
“We saw Stefanik at the hearing on campus antisemitism in Congress,” he said, noting that once confirmed as a senior member of the Trump administration she will be “stationed in one of the most hostile arenas: the U.N.” Chikli added that she’s “A warrior against antisemitism, we are very happy with her appointment.”
STEFANIK TOUTS GRILLING COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS IN SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARING
Former Rep. Elise Stefanik, the nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, attends her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 21, 2025. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In December 2023, Stefanik was widely praised during a congressional hearing on the explosion of antisemitism at American universities. She asked the presidents of Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology if calling for genocide against Jews violated their codes of conduct.
A year later, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled the U.S. House of Representatives Staff Report on Antisemitism, compiled by six congressional committees.
Chikli told Fox News Digital four actionable measures to curb the phenomenon: “Enforcing strict compliance with Title VI to prohibit discrimination and address antisemitism on campus; withholding federal funding to institutions that boycott Israel or tolerate antisemitic behavior; requiring universities to disclose foreign contributions and tightening government oversight; and revoking funding and tax exemptions for groups and universities that propagate antisemitism or support terror-related activities.”
Anti-Israel demonstrations continued in New York City Tuesday on Columbia University’s campus. (AP/Yuki Iwamura)
“This report from the speaker of the House shows that this [Trump] administration is highly committed to countering antisemitism,” Chikli said.
In her new role, Stefanik has also promised to fight Jew-hatred at Turtle Bay, which she described as a “den of antisemitism.”
TRUMP’S UN AMBASSADOR PICK ELISE STEFANIK COULD SAVE TAXPAYERS MILLIONS IF TAPS MUSK-RAMASWAMY ‘DOGE’
“Even before the barbaric terrorist attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7, the U.N. has continuously betrayed Israel and betrayed America, acting as an apologist for Iran and their terrorist proxies,” Stefanik said in November after her nomination.
During her Senate confirmation on Tuesday, she said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), a conduit for international aid to the Palestinians, should be “at the bottom of the list” of organizations to receive American funding.
In January 2024, then-President Joe Biden halted funding to UNRWA after Israel released evidence that the agency’s staff participated in the Oct. 7 massacre.
Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli (Shahar Azran/Getty Images/File)
According to Chikli, UNRWA effectively serves as Hamas’s educational system, which in turn makes it the engine fueling antisemitism throughout Gaza and Palestinian-administered territories in the West Bank, known by Israelis as Judea and Samaria.
“It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a village to raise a terrorist. And if you put a child in UNRWA schools, you can be sure that he will graduate with the mindset of a terrorist,” Chikli told Fox News Digital.
NEW REPORTS CLAIM UNRWA WORKS WITH TERRORISTS, TEACHES HATE AS AGENCY HITS BACK AT CRITICS
“[Palestinian children] will learn to admire suicide bombers, Hamas Nukhba terrorists who butchered innocent people. They go to schools named after terrorists, with textbooks that include math problems about how many Israeli soldiers were attacked or how many stones were thrown at them,” he continued.
“That is why it is critical to make sure UNRWA is shut down,” he added.
In October, the Israeli parliament banned UNRWA from operating in the Jewish state. The law takes effect on Jan. 30.
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, holds a press conference in Jerusalem on Oct. 27, 2023. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid told Fox News Digital that “the government and the international community has had 90 days to find alternatives to UNRWA.”
He declined to say whether Lapid was in contact with the Trump administration to discuss “day after” plans once UNRWA ceases operations.
In August, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini confirmed the probable involvement of at least 19 UNRWA employees in the Oct.7 massacre, saying that “the evidence – if authenticated and corroborated – could indicate that the UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the attacks.”
A general view of the United Nations building New York City, NY on Tuesday, September 19, 2023. Traffic is increased at this time of year as the United Nations General Assembly hosts leaders from around the world. (Julia Bonavita for Fox News Digital)
He later confirmed that at least nine UNRWA staffers were fired after an internal probe.
UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma told Fox News Digital that “we are committed to staying and delivering [aid] in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, until we cannot.”
“UNRWA has the most robust systems in place in comparison to other United Nations agencies when it comes to the adherence to the principle of neutrality with regards to our programs that we do and our staff,” she said.
Asked whether the organization has put together a plan for ongoing operations once the Israeli ban kicks in, she said, “We have not.”
Ayelet Samerano’s son, Yonatan, was kidnapped by a terrorist who also reportedly worked for UNRWA on Oct. 7, 2023. A video of the terrorist dragging Yonatan’s lifeless body into a car went viral.
Memorials at the site of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, Israel, on Monday, May 27, 2024. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I will not let it go. I am pressuring the government very hard for the law, which passed in the Knesset, to be implemented,” Samerano told Fox News Digital. “I didn’t know UNRWA before, but then I investigated and found many documents that prove it’s involved in terror. That they were involved in taking hostages on Oct. 7 and holding kidnapped Israelis in their homes and buildings means there is no reason for this organization to continue to exist.”
“We must ensure that UNRWA will be replaced by another organization that will help the Gazans and make sure terror does not infiltrate them,” she continued. “People outside of Gaza and interested in real peace must teach a new curriculum that will create opportunities for Gazans, not terror.”
Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon told Fox News Digital that Stefanik is “a staunch ally of Israel and of the Jewish people.”
“She leads with moral clarity and a strong commitment to justice and truth,” he said. “I am looking forward to working with her at the U.N., where the demonization and distortions about Israel are out of control.”
World
Investors brace for a bigger backlash from Middle East war
World
Tel Aviv analyst shelters from 30 missile sirens in 48 hours, says Iran ‘won’t recover’
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The past 48 hours in Tel Aviv have been unlike anything seen before, a leading security analyst has said, as sirens blared amid missile threats following Operation Epic Fury and U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran.
“We are facing a biblical event — nothing less,” Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital, speaking from his shelter in the city.
Like many Israelis, Michael said he had spent hours in reinforced rooms during the ongoing barrage, adding that he was “very experienced in this.”
“But this all requires time and determination, and I do hope that Trump will also have them both,” he said, speaking shortly after the president released a video message stating that the military operation would continue “until all of our objectives are achieved.”
Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system over Tel Aviv. (JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)
“Trump is the only one who can make the change — and that change will impact the entire region and the international order for years to come,” Michael added.
As of Sunday, Tel Aviv remained under a state of emergency following Iranian missile attacks that caused casualties and widespread damage.
According to The Associated Press, Iranian missile and drone strikes have killed approximately 11 Israeli civilians and wounded dozens more in retaliation for the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.
Shrapnel from missile impacts damaged at least 40 buildings in Tel Aviv, and authorities reported at least one death in the area from falling debris.
The Philippine Embassy in Israel confirmed the death of a Filipino national after a missile strike hit Tel Aviv on Saturday.
TOMAHAWKS, B-2 STEALTH BOMBERS AND ATTACK DRONES POUND OVER 1,000 IRANIAN TARGETS IN 24-HOUR BLITZ
People take shelter as Iran launched missiles and drones towards Israel following the US-Israeli attacks. ( Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“We enter our shelter once the siren is heard and stay there until the Home Front Command announces that we can leave,” Michael said.
“Usually, it is about 20 to 30 minutes — unless there are further sirens during our stay. Since yesterday morning, it has happened around 30 times.”
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog also visited an impact site in Tel Aviv Sunday, delivering a message of resilience.
“The people of Israel and the people of Iran can live in peace. The region can live in peace. But what undermines peace time and again is terror instigated by this Iranian regime,” Herzog said.
EXILED IRANIAN CROWN PRINCE SAYS US STRIKES MARK ‘BEGINNING OF THE VERY END’ FOR REGIME
Israeli emergency service officer walks past building debris at the scene of a Iranian missile attack. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images)
Following the reported killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and roughly 40 senior Iranian officials, Iran formed a provisional leadership council.
Iran named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i to lead roles.
“The Supreme Leader did not complete the necessary groundwork regarding his own succession,” Michael added.
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“Pezeshkian will face very troubling challenges due to their heavy losses, severe disruptions to control and command systems, and the massive bombing and attacks across Iran, including Tehran,” he said.
“Even if this regime doesn’t collapse, it will never be able to reconstitute itself, recover or return to its previous position,” Michael added.
World
Israel FM says Europe too divided, slams Spanish PM
Israeli minister Gideon Sa’ar said Europe “does not have unified position” on what role it should play in Iran as European ministers sought to establish a joint approach Sunday.
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As Israel and the United States conducted a joint military strike on Iran, leading to the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Europe was kept on the sidelines.
EU member states did not participate in the operation and, in some cases, they were not informed prior as it is customary among strategic allies.
Asked whether Israel sought to keep Europe on the margins, Sa’ar said internal divisions within EU member states had kept them out of critical exchanges of operational details, unlike the United States, which the minister described as his country’s greatest ally.
“In Europe, you have all kinds of approaches,” he told Euronews. “You have countries like the Czech Republic which is strongly supporting this operation and then you have Spain, which is standing with all the tyrants of the world.”
On Saturday, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez was among the most critical voices in Europe, suggesting the US-Israeli strikes on Iran risk plunging the region into total war.
“We reject the unilateral military action of the United States and Israel, which represents an escalation and contributes to a more uncertain and hostile international order,” Sánchez said Saturday. The Spanish PM reiterated that message on Sunday.
“We urge for de-escalation and call to respect international law in all conflicts,” Sánchez added. “You can be against a heinous regime, like the Iranian regime, while also rejecting a military intervention that is unjustified, dangerous and outside of international law.”
Sa’aar said Israel considers the operation “fully justified” citing the right to self-defense from a regime that “has called for the destruction of Israel” and lashed at the Spanish prime minister for sending an “anti-Israeli, anti-American message.”
“Read the statement, they are standing with Iran!” he added.
When asked if any of his European counterparts had manifested an interest in joining the military operation or provide support on the ground, Sa’ar said he held multiple exchanges with European ministers over the weekend and suggested that “if others want to join, they will know have to convey the message.”
On Sunday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appeared to back regime change in Iran in line with Israel and the US, saying that the “risk of further escalation is real. This is why a credible transition in Iran is urgently needed” in comments on Sunday.
Sa’ar told Euronews said the strategic strikes and the elimination of Khamenei alongside top regime commanders could “create the conditions to weaken the regime enough to allow the Iranians to take their future into their own hands”.
“The future leadership of Iran should be determined by the Iranian people through free elections. Our only requirement is that whoever comes to power in Iran must not pursue the destruction of Israel,” he said.
Watch the full interview on Euronews from 8pm CET
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