Haley Says U.S. Won’t Let U.N. ‘Bully’ Israel Anymore

Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, says the U.S. will not allow the U.N. to bully Israel anymore.

Nikki Haley spoke Wednesday in Yerushalayim a day after she berated the U.N.’s top human rights body, charging it lets rights abusers whitewash their images and foes of Israel attack it unfairly.

Haley told Israeli President Reuven Rivlin “I have never taken kindly to bullies and the U.N. has bullied Israel for a very long time and we are not going to let that happen anymore.”

She said “hopefully it will be a new day in the Human Rights Council when it comes to Israel.”

The reception for Haley at the president’s residence was very cordial, and more relaxed than when President Donald Trump was in Israel. Haley’s visit holds none of the anxiety of the president’s trip, in which the ambiguities of his position had officials on tenterhooks, wondering if he would use one of his speeches to make an unscripted demand for concessions from Israel.

Haley’s tenure at the U.N. has been unequivocally pro-Israel. As Pres. Rivlin said to her: “You are a dear friend of Israel. We appreciate your strong stand on the world’s most important stage in support of the security of the people and the state of Israel. With your support, we see the beginning of a new era. Israel is no longer alone at the U.N. Israel is no longer the U.N.’s punching bag.”

In a meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, she described the reaction to her advocacy for Israel at the international body:

“I think they know they can’t keep responding in the way they’ve been responding. They sense that the tone has changed,” she said.

“We were talking with some ambassadors in Geneva—who are all on the Human Rights Council—about Agenda Item Seven [a fixed item on the agenda to discuss Israel], and some of them were embarrassed by it. They acknowledge the fact that it just makes no sense. You can’t sit there, and of all countries, Israel?”

But, she said, all she did was “tell the truth, and it’s kind of overwhelming at the reaction. It was a habit. It was something that we’re so used to doing.”

PM Netanyahu thanked Haley “for all your help and standing up for Israel, standing up for the truth, which is standing up for America. Actually, I think its standing up for the U.N. as it was originally conceived. People appreciate truth.”