WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, pledged Tuesday that he would confront antisemitism within the international organization and called for the UN agency tasked with assisting Palestinian refugees to be dismantled. 

Waltz used his appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to criticize the UN for what he described as “pervasive antisemitism” and bias against Israel and the United States. He testified less than a week after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN’s top official for investigating rights abuses against the Palestinians, accusing her of antisemitism and support for terrorism.

Trump’s former national security adviser claimed a disproportionate focus on Israel by the UN. From 2015 to 2023, the UN General Assembly adopted 154 resolutions against Israel, versus 71 against all other nations, Waltz said in his opening remarks. 

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) later asked Waltz during the confirmation hearing if he would veto “one-sided anti-Israel resolutions.”