U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley defended her broadsides against the United Nations’ anti-Israel actions during an interview Tuesday.
Haley was accepting the Jeane Kirkpatrick Award from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies when she talked about the numerous anti-Israel resolutions and sessions the United Nations has held. She said she expected bias against Israel but was still surprised at how deeply it runs through the U.N.
“I knew that there was a bias against Israel, but I hadn’t really put a lot of the thought into it until I attended the first session,” Haley said. “And when I saw literally how abusive all of those countries were being to Israel, in a way that was pathetic, really, I had no choice but to get up and say this is completely wrong.”
She said the groupthink at the U.N. reminded her of how schoolchildren behave.
“It’s like that kid in the schoolyard who gets bullied and everyone’s bullying that kid just because they think that makes them stronger. I wasn’t going to stand for that,” Haley said.
Haley went into how she has worked on turning anti-Israel sessions into what they were ostensibly made to be: sessions on the Middle East as a whole. Member nations have tried to focus exclusively on criticizing Israel in those monthly sessions.
Haley and the Trump administration have consistently strengthened the U.S. alliance with Israel and stood up for it at the United Nations, stopping resolutions where the United States has veto power.
Many of the other countries in the Middle East routinely complain about Israel and criticize their human rights record. Meanwhile, Haley’s consistent defending of Israel has in some cases heightened the anger at her and the U.S.