Tuesday at the hearing to confirm her to lead the United States Agency for International Development, Samantha Power testified that she did not think the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem was illegitimate and illegally occupied, but she waffled on stating that she disagreed with the substance of an anti-Israel resolution she and the Barack Obama administration allowed to pass in December 2016 by abstaining from a veto.
Denying that the Old City of Jerusalem is illegitimate and illegally occupied is a direct contradiction of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, the resolution Power and Obama refused to veto.
Sen. Ted Cruz asked Power directly whether she agreed with Resolution 2334. Power dodged the question, claiming that she had worked to establish Yom Kippur as a UN holiday, among other supposedly pro-Israel actions. Cruz pressed for a direct answer: “Do you believe the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem is illegitimate and illegally occupied territory?” he asked, because that is what Resolution 2334 says.
She answered that she does not believe it is, but would not confirm Cruz’s suggestion that she must then “disagree” with the substance of Resolution 2334.