On Monday, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington D.C. The former Governor of South Carolina received thunderous applause when she outlined her approach to dealing with the United Nations. She also talked about how she is using her office to defend Israel from the infamously anti-Israel international organization.
Haley spoke with Dan Senor about her role at the U.N. and how the United States can hold various nations accountable for their actions by referring to the shameful U.N. resolution that the Obama administration abstained from last December.
When Resolution 2334 happened, and the U.S. abstained, the entire country felt a kick in the gut. We had just done something that showed the United States at its weakest point ever. Never do we not have the backs of our friends. We don’t have a greater friend than Israel. And to see that happen was not only embarrassing, it was hurtful.
And so what I can tell you is everyone at the United Nations is scared to talk to me about Resolution 2334. And I wanted them to know that, look, that happened, but it will never happen again.
So to answer the question on what can we do at the U.N., we can do a lot. The power of your voice is an amazing thing. So one, changing the culture of the U.N. is very important. And the way you change the culture of the U.N. is United States tells them what we’re not going to put up with. We start to change the culture to what we should be talking about. And then we actually act on what we say.
Haley emphasized that she has no problems putting various nations in place when they act against the interests of the United States.
I wear heels. It’s not for a fashion statement. It’s because if I see something wrong, we’re going to kick them every single time. So how are we kicking? We’re kicking by, number one, putting everybody on notice, saying that if you have our back — we’re going to have the backs of our friends, but our friends need to have our back too. If you challenge us, be prepared for what you’re challenging us for, because we will respond.
According to The Tower, Haley received the most applause from conference attendees when she emphasized her commitment to end the U.N.’s shameful behavior toward Israel, stating:
The next thing we did was we said, the days of Israel-bashing are over. We have a lot of things to talk about. There are a lot of threats to peace and security. But you’re not going to take our number one democratic friend in the Middle East and beat up on them. And I think what you’re seeing is they’re all backing up a little bit. The Israel-bashing is not as loud. They didn’t know exactly what I meant outside of giving the speech, so we showed them.
Haley gave two examples where she and the United States put the United Nations and the Palestinian Authority in check, demonstrating that she is living up to the speech she gave early in her tenure promising not to turn a blind-eye to anti-Israel bias in the U.N.
So when they decided to try and put a Palestinian in one of the highest positions that had ever been given at the U.N., we said no and we had him booted out. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t a nice man. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t good to America. What it means is, until the Palestinian Authority comes to the table, until the U.N. responds the way they’re supposed to, there are no freebees for the Palestinian Authority anymore.
So then they tested us again. And a ridiculous report, the Falk Report, came out. I don’t know who the guy is or what he’s about, but he’s got serious problems. Goes and compares Israel to an apartheid state. So the first thing we do is we call the secretary general and say, this is absolutely ridiculous. You have to pull it. The secretary general immediately pulled the report. And then the director has now resigned.
Haley’s speech demonstrates a very welcome change of tone from the United States, not only the United Nations, but also with its relationship with the Palestinian Authority. After eight years of President Obama’s malicious treatment of Israel, this should give pro-Israel Americans a sigh of relief.
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Source: The Daily Wire
