Nikki Haley Speaks out on Iran and the Palestinians

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley issued some stark warnings during a press briefing she held at UN headquarters on January 2nd. Her bluntness and moral clarity are welcome changes from the doublespeak and moral relativism we heard so often from her Obama-era predecessors, Susan Rice and Samantha Power. Demonstrating U.S. support for the Iranian people in their struggle against the regime, for example, Ambassador Haley told reporters that she intended to call for emergency meetings of the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council to address the Iranian people’s plight. "The U.N. must speak out," Ambassador Haley said. "We must not be silent. The people of Iran are crying out for freedom. All freedom-loving people must stand with their cause. The international community made the mistake of failing to do that in 2009. We must not make that mistake again."

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Instead of learning from their mistakes, senior members of Obama’s administration are doubling down. Former UN Ambassador and National Security Adviser Susan Rice, for example, is counseling a repeat of Obama’s vow of silence in 2009 when he turned his back on the Green Revolution protesters. Rice tweeted out a New York Times op-ed by another former Obama aide, Philip Gordon, who was an assistant Secretary of State, headlined “How Can Trump Help Iran’s Protesters? Be Quiet.” Philip Gordon claimed in his article that, while he wanted to see the government of Iran “weakened, moderated or even removed,” he was offering President Trump some “unsolicited” advice to which Susan Rice subscribes: “Keep quiet and do nothing.” Be quiet and do nothing in the face of evil? As Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” An individual claiming to be in Iran at the time of Rice’s tweet pushed back strongly against Rice’s advice: “They are shooting at us. Shame on you Susan Rice!” On the subject of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, I asked Ambassador Haley at her press briefing the following question:

“Will the U.S. maintain its present level of funding of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees [UNRWA] in light of the General Assembly Jerusalem resolution, pushed by the Palestinians, and the Palestinian UN representative's threat to 'unleash all the weapons we have at the UN'?”

Ambassador Haley did not mince her words. Here is her response:

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“I think the President has basically said he does not want to give any additional funding or stop funding until the Palestinians are agreeing to come back to the negotiation table. And what we saw with the resolution was not helpful to the situation. We are trying to move for a peace process but if that does not happen, the President's not going to continue to fund that situation...”

The United States is the largest single donor to UNRWA, having contributed $368 million of its $1.2 billion annual budget last year and approximately $5 billion since UNRWA’s establishment in 1948. Although UNRWA does deliver some valuable humanitarian services, it also has hired Hamas terrorists and promulgated a Palestinian drafted curriculum in its schools that teaches Palestinian children to hate Jews. It has also morphed from a temporary relief and resettlement agency to a permanent UN fixture serving generations of Palestinians far removed from the original 700-800 thousand Palestinians who left their homes around the time the Jewish state of Israel came into existence. UNRWA does not deserve anywhere near what the United States has been contributing, if it deserves anything at all at this point. At her press briefing, Ambassador Haley was asked by a pro-Palestinian reporter whether she was concerned about being “on the wrong side of history” in vetoing the UN Security Council draft resolution supported by the other 14 members of the Security Council condemning recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and decrying any plans to move a member state’s embassy there from Tel Aviv. The vetoed Security Council draft resolution, as well as the subsequent General Assembly resolution that passed with 128 votes in favor, were intended as rebukes to President Trump's decision to change U.S. policy towards Jerusalem. Ambassador Haley responded that “I stood proudly even if I was the only hand in the Security Council to fight for the will of the people in the United States. They wanted to see the embassy moved to Jerusalem and we followed through with that.”

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Contrast Ambassador Haley’s courageous stand with the Obama administration’s moral confusion displayed in December 2016 at the Security Council when then-UN Ambassador Samantha Power refused to raise her hand in opposition to the blatantly one-sided anti-Israel resolution cheered on by the Palestinians. In her speech justifying the Obama administration’s decision to abstain, Power tried to throw some crumbs to Israel by criticizing the UN’s unequal treatment of Israel. However, actions speak louder than words. Following Obama’s and John Kerry’s instructions, she allowed Security Council Resolution 2334 to pass by abstaining. This resolution declared that “the establishment of all Israeli settlements in the Palestinian occupied territory since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law.” (Emphasis added) Consenting to this “legal” conclusion purporting to invalidate post-June 1967 Jewish residences built even in “East Jerusalem,” including the Old City where Jewish holy sites are located, departs from the position of all prior administrations. The Obama administration, represented by Samantha Power at the United Nations, was willing to regard as a foregone conclusion that even the Old City of Jerusalem in "East Jerusalem" was a part of “occupied” Palestinian territory, which would presumably be incorporated into the capital of an independent Palestine unless the Palestinians agreed otherwise (which they won't). The Trump administration, represented by Nikki Haley at the United Nations, recognized both the reality that the modern state of Israel’s seat of government is located in Jerusalem and the unique historical and religious symbolism of Jerusalem to the Jewish people. The final boundaries within the city of Jerusalem as a whole would be decided by the parties in direct negotiations. Israel is willing to resume such negotiations without any preconditions. The Palestinian leaders refuse. Hence, as both Nikki Haley and President Trump said, the United States needs to reconsider what value it is getting in return for the huge sums of money it has contributed to the Palestinians for so many years. The same goes for the UN itself. Thankfully, Ambassador Haley is following through with her promise to defend the interests of the American people at the United Nations, hold the UN to account by insisting on managerial reforms and budget cuts, stand up for Israel against unfair attacks, and call out the tyrants and dictators who abuse their people while threatening international peace and security.

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