WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. Senate confirmed Samantha Power as ambassador to the United Nations.
The vote to confirm Power was 87-10, CNN reported.
In her confirmation hearings last month, Power vowed to continue defending Israel at the United Nations and expressed regrets at comments in the early 2000s when she accused Israel of major human rights abuses and suggested that foreign intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may be necessary.
During President Obama’s first term, Power handled international bodies on the National Security Council and earned plaudits from mainstream Jewish groups for working with Susan E. Rice, then the ambassador to the United Nations, in pushing back against anti-Israel actions at the United Nations.
Power won over a number of conservatives who have otherwise criticized Obama’s foreign policy as feckless for her tough advocacy of intervening overseas to stop human rights abuses. One of her Senate champions was Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a conservative pro-Israel stalwart.
