Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, lashed out at United States U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley on Wednesday by accusing her of being “more Israeli than the Israelis themselves.”
Mansour was irked that Haley chided Arab nations of political grandstanding with their speeches against Israel, yet do little to actually help the Palestinian people. Mansour claimed that Haley’s speech was nothing more than “an unconditional defense Israel” and criticized her for the Trump administration’s decision to drastically cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Additionally, Mansour declared that the Trump administration’s peace proposal would not be considered by the Palestinian Authority.
As the Journal reported on July 24, Haley challenged Arab nations to take steps to help the Palestinian people instead of simply giving speeches that criticize Israel.
“If those words were useful in the schools, the hospitals and the streets of their communities, the Palestinian people would not be facing the desperate conditions we are discussing here today,” Haley said. “Talk is cheap.”
Some teachers at UNRWA schools have reportedly issued anti-Semitic Facebook posts. Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser to the Foundation of Defense Democracies, has argued that the UNRWA keeps Palestinians “in a permanent state of dependency and poverty.”
