Haley: It’s a New Day for Israel at the UN

“I have never taken kindly to bullies, and the UN has bullied Israel for a very long time,” United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Wednesday as she arrived in Jerusalem for a three day visit. “We’re not going to let that happen. It is a new day for Israel at the United Nations.”

Welcoming Haley to Israel, President Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin praised the ambassador for her “strong stand [in support of Israel] on the world’s most important stage” and expressed thanks that Israel would no longer serve as the “United Nations’ punching bag.”

Earlier, Haley met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who thanked her for “standing up for Israel, standing up for the truth, which is standing up for America” and “standing up for the UN as it was originally conceived.”

Haley said she felt slightly guilty about accepting effusive accolades for defending Israel. “All I’ve done, is tell the truth,” she said. “If there’s anything I have no patience for is bullies, and the UN was being such a bully to Israel, because they could.”
Since assuming office in January Haley has emerged as a staunch supporter of Israel on the international stage, repeatedly criticizing the United Nations for maintaining a double standard vis-à-vis Israel and warning Tuesday that the United States could leave the United Nations Human Rights Council – currently staffed by notorious human rights abusers including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Ivory Coast -unless it reverses decades of anti-Israel bias.

“If the Human Rights Council is going to be an organization we entrust to protect and promote human rights, it must change. If it fails to change, then we must pursue the advancement of human rights outside of the council,” Haley told the Graduate Institute in Geneva during a stop en route to Israel.