The messages reveal conversations where Black people are called monkeys and "the watermelon people," political opponents face threats of torture and suicide, and white supremacist symbols like "1488" appear alongside praise for Republicans perceived as supporting slavery. Epithets, including variations of racial and homophobic slurs, appeared more than 251 times combined throughout the communications shared among a dozen millennial and Gen Z Republicans, including Vermont state senator Samuel Douglass. "Can we fix the showers? Gas chambers don't fit the Hitler aesthetic," Joe Maligno, who previously identified as general counsel for the New York State Young Republicans, wrote in response to Giunta's gas chamber comments, according to POLITICO.

Since POLITICO began inquiries, Hendrix lost his communications position with Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, Walker's job offer managing Republican Peter Oberacker's congressional campaign was rescinded, and prominent Republicans, including Rep. Elise Stefanik and State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, have denounced the chat while calling for resignations. Danedri Herbert, spokesperson for Kobach and Kansas GOP chair, confirmed that Hendrix is "no longer employed" after being shown chat excerpts. A spokesperson for the Oberacker campaign stated Walker won't be brought on in light of the comments.

Giunta claims the release constitutes "a highly-coordinated year-long character assassination led by Gavin Wax and the New York City Young Republican Club" and suggests the logs were obtained through extortion, though he apologized for "insensitive and inexcusable language" while raising concerns that message logs "may have been deceptively doctored." Walker similarly apologized, stating "there is no excuse for the language and tone in messages attributed to me" and suggesting portions "may have been altered, taken out of context, or otherwise manipulated." Michael Bartels, a senior adviser to the Trump administration in the Small Business Administration's general counsel office, who participated in the chat, provided a notarized affidavit obtained by POLITICO. The affidavit claims Wax "demanded" the full chat log and "threatened my professional standing" when he resisted.

Art Jipson, a University of Dayton professor who specializes in white racial extremism, stated the Young Republicans' conversations reminded him of online discussions between neo-Nazi and white supremacist group members after reviewing excerpts provided by POLITICO. "You say it once or twice, it's a joke, but you say it 251 times, it's no longer a joke," Jipson stated. "The more we repeat certain ideas, the more real they become to us." Joe Feagin, a Texas A&M sociology professor who has studied racism for 60 years, warned the participants "will act on these views" and expressed concern the words would be applied to public policy.

Giunta, who serves as chief of staff to New York state assemblymember Mike Reilly, ultimately fell six points short of winning the chairmanship to lead the Young Republican National Federation earlier this year despite earning endorsements from Stefanik and longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone. Stefanik accepted an award from the New York State Young Republicans earlier this year and lauded Giunta for his "tremendous leadership" in August. Alex deGrasse, a senior adviser for Stefanik, stated the congresswoman "was absolutely appalled to learn about the alleged comments" and called for responsible parties to "step down immediately" if POLITICO's description is accurate. Stone stated he would "denounce any such comments in the strongest possible terms" if the chat is authentic.

While reporting this article, POLITICO was examining separate allegations that Giunta and the Young Republicans mismanaged the New York organization's finances and hadn't paid at least one venue for a holiday party hosted last year. Updated records show the organization is in more than $38,000 of debt. In the chat, Walker joked, "NYSYR will be declaring bankruptcy after this I just know it" and Giunta appeared to joke about draining funds for a vacation to Italy, with Walker replying, "Great. Can't wait to get sued by our venue." Walker had earlier joked about the possibility of exposure, writing, "If we ever had a leak of this chat we would be cooked fr fr."

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"We must be unified to accomplish our Mission, and Elise Stefanik has been a vital part of our efforts from the very beginning. I have asked Elise, as one of my biggest Allies, to remain in Congress," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

"I don't want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise's seat," the president continued, and stressed that he hoped she would "able join my Administration in the future," as she was "FANTASTIC."

Stefanik is one of the staunchest defenders of Israel and has repeatedly come out against those who malign it on the world stage. She is also credited for having put a spotlight on universities' lenient approach to pro-Palestinian incitement. A congressional hearing in which she grilled university presidents on whether "From the River to the Sea" violated their policies resulted in heavy criticism of those institutions for not coming out against it, and ultimately, some of the presidents had to resign.

Stefanik, a staunch ally of President Trump, had yet to resign her congressional seat, a move that could have strained the GOP's fragile 218-to-213 majority over Democrats, with four seats currently vacant. House Speaker Mike Johnson knew of these talks as they unfolded, sources said. The party's narrow edge has fueled concerns about losing even one vote, putting Stefanik's next steps under scrutiny.

Her confirmation in the Senate seemed all but assured after the Foreign Relations Committee advanced her nomination on Jan. 30. Still, some Republicans wanted to delay action until after Florida's special elections on April 1, which will fill two vacant GOP seats expected to stay red.

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Global leaders and public figures sharply criticized the Associated Press on Saturday for its characterization of the Bibas family deaths, after the news agency wrote that the Israeli mother and her two children had "died in captivity" rather than being murdered by Hamas.

The controversy erupted after AP reported: "A body released by Palestinian militants overnight was confirmed by the family to be of Shiri Bibas, the Israeli mother whose sons also died in captivity."

They didn't "die in captivity" they were murdered in captivity. Fixed it for you. https://t.co/ZlhGGdZQci

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 22, 2025

Donald Trump Jr. immediately challenged the phrasing on X: "They didn't 'die in captivity' they were murdered in captivity. Fixed it for you."

United States Ambassador-designate to the UN Elise Stefanik issued a stern rebuke: "NEWSFLASH to the disgraced, morally repugnant, and antisemitic Associated Press. They were KILLED by Hamas terrorists."

Earlier in the week, Stefanik issued a powerful statement: "The world must never forget that Hamas terrorists savagely murdered over 1,200 innocent civilians including women, children, babies, and the elderly and took hundreds hostage committing unspeakable atrocities against humanity on October 7th. As we learn more about the tragic fates and devastating loss of life of these innocent victims, we are reminded that this must not be Israel's fight alone but a fight between good and evil, civilization and barbarity. It has never been more important to show our unequivocal support for our most precious ally and it is clear that under President Trump's leadership, America stands steadfast in support of Israel and the Jewish people. And we will not rest until every hostage is brought home."

NEWSFLASH to the disgraced, morally repugnant, and antisemitic Associated Press.

They were KILLED by Hamas terrorists. pic.twitter.com/7GFuc257xo

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) February 22, 2025

 Education policy expert Robert Pondiscio wrote: "Sorry, @AP but zoo animals 'die in captivity.' Shiri Bibas and her children were taken hostage and murdered."

Remember their names. pic.twitter.com/72vqE2vfyX

— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) February 22, 2025

 Representative Nancy Mace, who visited Israel this week, added: "Unfortunately, this already gut-wrenching tragedy has taken an even darker turn. Four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered a month after their kidnapping. Their mother, Shiri Bibas, body was not returned today, as it was promised. After spending this week walking their streets and seeing the evil Hamas has struck on their country, I have never felt more committed to eradicating Hamas for good."

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For three decades, UN Watch has stood as a beacon of light in Geneva, scrutinizing the United Nations' adherence to its founding principles. Founded by Morris Abram – a prominent civil rights lawyer who helped free Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from prison and won a landmark Supreme Court case for black voting rights – the organization has evolved from its 1993 origins to become one of the most persistent watchdogs of the international body.

At its helm is Hillel Neuer, an Orthodox Jew and Canadian-born international lawyer. From his base in Geneva, where he has been for the last 20 years, Neuer has become a formidable presence in diplomatic circles, regularly testifying in Washington, the Hague, European parliaments, and, of course, the United Nations. Under his leadership, UN Watch has maintained its dual mandate: monitoring the UN's adherence to its charter while combating antisemitism and discrimination against Israel.

Q: How did you get involved in UN Watch?

"I had been active for Israel since I was in college. I studied law and political science and worked for a think tank in Jerusalem called the Shalem Center. When I was in law school, I was writing essays and op-eds for newspapers. When I studied law at McGill University in Montreal, my mentor was Professor Irwin Cotler, who's a distinguished human rights lawyer. He was a lawyer for Natan Sharansky when he was a prisoner in Russia and for many human rights activists who were put in prison. He was my teacher and a very big influence in the work that I've done."

Q: What does your daily schedule look like?

"It varies because I would say there's about three months a year when the United Nations Human Rights Council based in Geneva is in session – September, March, and June. When they're in session, I'm participating in debates. When the UN is not in session, we're constantly monitoring and responding to what's going on at the UN. I'm very active on social media, day and night."

"For example, today, we exposed the UN agency UNRWA, how their top officials routinely meet with Hamas leaders and cooperate with them, and how UNRWA teaches their students to call for the killing of Jews. I was busy preparing the Twitter thread with evidence and making the case about UNRWA's complicity with terrorism. Our work involves a lot of communication. It's writing, whether on social media or writing articles. I do a lot of interviews like this one."

EXPOSED: UNRWA chiefs secretly met top terrorists, telling them: "We are united, no one can separate us." In Feb. 2017, UNRWA's @PKraehenbuehl met Hamas' Ali Baraka & Islamic Jihad's Abu Imad al-Rifai, who sent suicide bombers to kill troops in Iraq. https://t.co/1FucsZBXE7 pic.twitter.com/Ga88XrcVG8

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 21, 2024

Q: How did UN Watch find its sources for this case?

"Our research team is just going on the internet and finding things on social media. Most of the material that we're reporting are things that are openly available, which either no one is looking for or no one really cares. We know how to look for things. We're showing screenshots of what they say, linking to their own Facebook pages or their own websites."

Q: Have you experienced personal threats or received threats to the UN Watch?

"We anger a lot of people because we don't just criticize Islamic terrorist groups like Hamas or Hezbollah. Throughout the year, we bring human rights heroes from Russia, China, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Belarus, and North Korea. We are a thorn in the side of many of the world's worst regimes. I try not to let it get in the way. They're trying to hold you back and punch you down. You've got to stay focused on the important work and just tell the truth."

Q: Where were you on Oct. 7?

"I was visiting Jerusalem and I first heard an alarm around 8 in the morning. I went into the bomb shelter, grabbed my phone, even though it was Shabbat, and started tweeting there. I normally don't tweet on Shabbat."

Q: How has your job changed after Oct. 7?

"It's been very intense. Many of the things we're doing are the same. We were fighting UN bias for many years, and now, it's just on steroids. The speed has been increased exponentially. If you have one awful UN thing that happens maybe once a week or once a month, you might have multiple awful UN distortions happening in a single day. There's been a tsunami of hate around the world, and the UN is a part of it, unfortunately."

Q: What do you think of Trump's pick of Elise Stefanik as US ambassador to the UN?

"Elise Stefanik is famous for what she was able to do against the heads of Harvard and Penn. She exposed them before the world, asking them simple questions about how they tolerated calls for genocide against Jews and saw how morally bankrupt they were. I think that was extraordinary. We're hoping she's going to bring that same fierce pursuit of justice to the UN. I see her as kind of a B-52 bomber. She's heading into the UN, which, in John Bolton's words, is a 'target-rich environment.' And the job of folks like me who are on the ground, who've been inside the UN for many years, is if she's the B-52 bomber, then our job is just to call in the targets. I hope to be working with her closely."

Q: How does she compare to the current US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield?

"The current ambassador is a career diplomat, so it's just a completely different type of person. I've had no personal interaction with her."

Q: The mission statement of UN Watch is "to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own charter." How do you feel the UN is faring in this sense today? Is the UN failing to execute its charter?

"The UN is huge. There are numerous agencies, and some agencies perform better than others. But sadly, some of the main agencies are really falling short. Certainly, the Human Rights Council, in which 60% are dictatorships. China is a member. Cuba is a member. Eritrea, which has slave labor, is a member. Qatar, which sponsors terrorism, is a member. So that's a complete failure. The body that's supposed to be the leader of human rights at the United Nations is controlled by dictatorships."

"They appoint experts who are, in fact, enemies of human rights. I'll give you two examples. UN Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese is openly supporting Hamas. She told Hamas, 'You have the right to resist' at a Hamas conference. She said that 'America is subjugated by the Jewish lobby.' She routinely spreads blood libels against Israel. She often compares Israel to the Third Reich, to the Nazis. It's really the worst form of antisemitism. She's a UN expert of the Human Rights Council."

Francesca Albanese projects antisemitism and support for Hamas terrorism around the globe.

She has arrived in New York to project hate in the UN and campuses across the city. So we decided to project the truth: https://t.co/2XEWJbYm8O#FireFrancesca: https://t.co/6FNaka4tFv pic.twitter.com/cCGuURoUyV

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) October 30, 2024

"There's another expert. Alena Douhan was appointed to advocate against sanctions. Whenever Western countries impose sanctions on a dictatorship like Iran, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Cuba, or Syria, then this UN official will say that those sanctions are themselves a violation. She said if there are problems in Iran, it's because of American, British, and Canadian sanctions. She most recently went to China and said the Uighurs are treated very well. It's a completely inverted Orwellian upside-down situation where you have the worst dictatorships being championed by a UN so-called human rights expert. The UN Human Rights Council, the body that is supposed to be a defender of human rights, is the complete opposite."

"Iran was a member of the Women's Rights Commission of the UN until recently. Thanks to our campaign, we are the ones who helped get them expelled from that body. Now, Saudi Arabia is going to be the chair. Even though Saudi Arabia is improving in many ways, still the situation of women is not the best in the world, let's just say. It's absurd that Saudi Arabia has been made the chair of that body. Iran was elected to certain UN positions dealing with disarmament, which is absurd because Iran is arming terrorist groups and pursuing nuclear weapons illegally."

Q: Do you still support the UN as an institution? Is there still hope for it?

"The UN is huge. It's not going away. And the UN is what the member states make of it. Sadly, too often, democracies do not speak out. They just go along to get along. We need our democracies, Britain, France, Germany, the US, Canada, and Australia, to speak out more, introduce actions against dictatorships, push back against the election of dictatorships, and stop the demonization and singling out of Israel on a repeated basis."

"It's always going to be a problem because half the world's governments are dictatorships, and the UN is so removed from the citizens. The more removed you are from the citizen, the more you'll get a lack of accountability. There's a lot of corruption inside the UN. There's very little oversight."

Q: Many call for the US and Israel to remove themselves from the UN because it has become so immoral and biased. What do you say to that?

"It's complicated. There are a lot of decisions that happen there, and the US wants to be there when those decisions are being discussed. I don't think it's likely that the US is going to pull out. It wouldn't necessarily make the UN go away. Other countries are not pulling out. The UK is not pulling out. France is not pulling out. So even if the US pulled out, the UN would continue to be influential because it is the world's main body. Even if you had no UN, there would be other international gatherings, and the same anti-Israel majorities would appear. So, to some degree, you wouldn't necessarily eliminate the source of the problem."

"I'm not saying that we're obliged to stick with the UN always. But the reality is that it's there. A fair question you could ask is whether the UN needs to be in New York. It could be that President Trump might say, 'We're not leaving the UN. But the UN has other offices. Maybe the main headquarters of the UN should move to Nairobi.' Maybe less people are going to take the UN seriously when it's not based in Manhattan. So I think there are some options."

"If Israel were to leave the UN, that would only make its enemies very happy. To be recognized as an independent country, most people assume that you have a seat at the UN. Israel fought so hard in 1949 to be admitted to the UN. And the truth is that if they would leave, it would only gladden the hearts of its enemies. So I don't think that leaving is necessarily really an effective solution to what is a very difficult problem, namely Israel being targeted in such an extreme way."

Q: Where do you think the UN will be in five years' time?

"It will be very interesting to see with the Trump administration. But I hope that we'll have more democracies in the world, and I hope that the democracies will begin to change their approach and hold the UN accountable. To some degree, the UN reflects the kind of world we have, and we have to hope that we're going to have a better world."

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Donald Trump's administration, judging by the president-elect's appointments, will likely be "full-throttle right-wing," with some saying it could be even more hawkish than Israel's current government.

From UN Ambassador Elise Stefanik, who led the battle against terrorism and antisemitism taking hold in US universities, to Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who openly supports annexing the West Bank – something even Israel's government hesitates to commit to – to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth – all are steadfast supporters of Israel.

These appointments show that Donald Trump isn't calculating political costs and makes decisions based on his views and whims, even more boldly than in his first term. However, these individuals weren't appointed for their positions on the Middle East or Israel, but for their loyalty and commitment to the president-elect. This explains why some of our biggest supporters from Trump's first term – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley – are absent from the list.

These Trump appointments help clear some of the fog and question marks of recent months regarding Trump's intentions and future policy. While expressing support and warmth toward Israel, he has also notably courted Arab-American voters, many of whom are decidedly anti-Israel, trying to win them to his side. To Arab voters, he promised to end the war in our region – which they interpreted as a promise to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon before achieving its objectives.

But this isn't just about campaign rhetoric – there's also a meaningful shift within the "royal family." During Trump's first term, the dominant figures were his daughter, Ivanka, who underwent Orthodox conversion to Judaism, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who served as the president's Middle East envoy and advanced the Abraham Accords, as well as the "Deal of the Century" aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ironically, Mahmoud Abbas, who rejected the deal and told Trump to "go to hell," is now actively courting him, trying to extract what the Palestinians refused to accept just a few years ago.

Today, Trump's family circle includes Arab world representatives, including Massad Boulos, his in-law, who might be appointed as his envoy to the Arab world. Boulos's son, Michael, is married to Trump's daughter, Tiffany. The elder Boulos is a Lebanese businessman who ran unsuccessfully for the 2009 Lebanese parliament on a list headed by Suleiman Frangieh, Hezbollah's ally.

Today, Boulos advocates for peace between Israel and Arab states, and it appears his time with Trump has moved him to the pro-Western camp. Nevertheless, Lebanon and the Arab world remain his primary concerns, hence his efforts to convince Trump to bring the war in our region to a swift conclusion.

Besides all this, Trump's second term remains an enigma. He occupies a position of power that few previous White House occupants enjoyed, owing nothing to anyone and needing no one's support.

Will he emerge as an isolationist who despises American involvement in world affairs, believing it comes at American taxpayers' expense, and therefore avoid taking strong action against Iran while seeking calm and stability? Or perhaps, precisely because he's now unencumbered by constraints, will we receive backing and free rein to reorganize the Middle East and advance our relations with the Arab world, while pushing the Palestinian issue off the regional agenda?

During his second White House term, Trump could become the best president we've ever known, but simultaneously, he could prove to be someone who eroded America's commitment and financial and military aid to Israel. Either way – we can only pray and hope for the best.

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At least a billion eyes watched the dramatic three minutes in which Republican New York Congresswoman Elise Stefani forced the presidents of America's leading universities to answer a rather simple question: "Does a call for the elimination of the Jewish people violate the rules of your academic institution?"

"It depends on the context," the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and UPenn told the lawmaker when she asked them that question at the House committee hearing in Washington five months ago. Stefanik instinctively and rightly rejected their responses. "No," she told the professors, "calls for the murder of Jews are not context-dependent."

The clarity and determination displayed by Congresswoman Stefanik shook America's prestigious campuses and, among other things, forced two of the presidents to resign from their positions. The power Stefanik radiated, and the enormous snowball effect that began rolling due to her words, catapulted her as one of the most talked-about names as Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, searches for a running mate or future cabinet members. In a recent interview with Israel Hayom, Trump committed to having a pro-Israel running mate. Stefanik meets that definition by at least 100%

On Sunday, Stefanik arrived in Israel for a solidarity tour visit and visited communities affected by the recent conflict. However, she did not need to witness the difficult sights to stand as a wall in support of the State of Israel and the Jewish people while harshly criticizing President Joe Biden's attitude toward Israel. In an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom, she made it clear that one thing will not happen: If Trump is elected president, there will be no weapons embargo on Israel.

Q: Many Israelis are now disappointed with President Biden's line toward Israel, especially regarding the embargo he imposed two weeks ago. The question is, if Trump does win the elections in November and the war is still ongoing, what will his policy be regarding Israel, the war, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran? What will he say to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or another Israeli prime minister if he becomes president?

"Well, first of all, look at President Trump's record in terms of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, the historic Abraham Accords, the biggest great breakthrough for peace normalization in 25 years, as well as moving Israel to US Central Command, allowing the planning which was so critical to combating the Iranian strike against Israel with the hundreds of missiles that were sent. We know that President Trump has a strong effort when it comes to US support for Israel. And there is a stark difference. Look at Joe Biden's statement to withhold military aid that the US Congress passed overwhelmingly and I was one of the leaders in Congress to ensure that that aid was sent to the president's desk. There was no excuse for any American president to withhold that aid to our most precious ally in the region. Under President Trump that would have never happened."

Q: What do you think about President Biden not allowing entry into Rafah and not wanting, for example, Israel to encourage emigration from the Gaza Strip to other places in the world? Is it okay with you to allow Gazans to immigrate to other places, and this situation where Biden does not want us to operate in places where we know Hamas is still present?

"Israel needs all the operational flexibility to eradicate Hamas. This is a just war it was Hamas that committed terrorist atrocities against the Israeli people. So this moral equivocation, this equivocation on policy from the Biden administration, there is no room for it. And I'm here in Israel to send a message that the American people stand strongly with Israel to eradicate Hamas to protect Israel's right to exist to protect the national security of Israel."

The full interview will appear in Israel Hayom's weekend edition.

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