United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley tore into the U.N. at American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)’s conference in Washington, D.C. for “bullying” Israel.
Haley explained how she was initially skeptical about taking the position as ambassador to the U.N. since her political experience has mainly been as a governor, but she was sold on the job when she told President Trump that she would be speaking her mind at all times. Trump’s response: “That’s exactly why I want you to do this.”
On her first day on the job, she told Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon the December 2016 resolution that slapped Israel for building settlements in Judea and Samaria “would never happen again” under Haley.
Leading into her experience at the U.N. thus far, Haley explained how at times her family experienced bullying as an Indian immigrant family in South Carolina, leading her to establish an anti-bullying program when she became governor of the state.
“For me it was just so fundamental: you don’t pick on someone just because they look different than you,” Haley said. “You don’t pick on someone just because they think differently than you or because you can.”
Haley added, “This idea has always been with me when I was child, but I didn’t think it would come to play at the United Nations.”
Haley claimed that the U.N. shows constant bias against Israel, citing the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an example.
“UNESCO recently declared one of Judaism’s holiest sites, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, as a Palestinian heritage site in need of protection from Israel,” Haley said. “That was enough. Ten months into this administration, the United States withdrew from UNESCO.”
Haley also reiterated her support for President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
“Jerusalem was, is, and will always be the capital of Israel,” Haley said. “This was not something that was created by an American decision; America did not make Jerusalem Israel’s capital. What President Trump did, to his great credit, was recognize a reality that American presidents had denied for too long.”
Haley concluded her speech with poignant words against the U.N.
“Israel must be treated like any other normal country,” Haley said. “We will continue to demand that Israel not be treated like some sort of temporary provisional entity.”
“It cannot be the case that only one country in the world doesn’t get to choose its capital city. It cannot be the case that the U.N. Human Rights Council has a standing agenda item for only one country. It cannot be the case that only one set of refugees throughout the world is counted in a way that causes the number to grow forever. It cannot be the case that in an organization with 193 countries, the United Nations spends half of its time attacking only one country. We will not accept it any longer.”
Her full speech can be seen below:
Washington Free Beacon reporter Alex Griswold tweeted that Haley garnered the most applause at AIPAC:
https://twitter.com/HashtagGriswold/status/970870511076077568
According to Haaretz, AIPAC attendees viewed her as their “Wonder Woman” and even the next president of the United States.
