The US ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power testified on the Hill on April 2, and conservatives’ reports have emphasized her statement that it is not in the U.S. interest to defund UN organizations that accept Palestine as a state, despite a new US law calling for that action. Power said the Palestinians should get a waiver on that law.

“In the event that the Palestinians seek and obtain membership in a U.N. agency, the last thing that we want to do is to give them a double win,” she said. “And it would be a double win for them to secure a win in an agency on the one hand, and then the exclusion of the United States from that very agency, leaving the agency at the mercy of leadership from Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela – the countries that tend to fill the space when we depart.” Later during the hearing, Power again made the case for a waiver. “The American people and the United States are so much better off when the United States is in good standing within these organizations, defending our interests, fighting for our friends, and not surrendering the playing field to those that would like nothing more than for the United States not to be in these organizations.”

But other comments Power made were sharply critical of the Palestinian Authority; she said she has a monthly meeting with the Israelis to look out at the sea of international bodies, and threats. A friend sent another transcript of her comments, from the one hour mark of the House hearing above, in responding to Debbie Wasserman Schultz (who is the chair of the Democratic National Committee):