Nikki Haley slams United Nations for anti-Israeli double standards

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley gave a very strong statement condemning the United Nations for their anti-Israel bias and double standards against America's Middle East ally. She made her comments to the press shortly after attending her first Security Council meeting Monday.

"The first thing I want to do is talk about what we just saw in there," Haley began. "The Security Council just finished its regular monthly meeting on Middle East issues. It’s the first meeting like that that I’ve attended, and I have to say it was a bit strange."

The Security Council is supposed to discuss how to maintain international peace and security. But at our meeting on the Middle East, the discussion was not about Hezbollah’s illegal build-up of rockets in Lebanon. It was not about the money and weapons Iran provides to terrorists. It was not about how we defeat ISIS. It was not about how we hold Bashar al-Assad accountable for the slaughter of hundreds and thousands of civilians. No, instead, the meeting focused on criticizing Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East. I am new around here, but I understand that’s how the Council has operated, month after month, for decades.

I’m here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore. I am here to underscore the ironclad support of the United States for Israel. I’m here to emphasize the United States is determined to stand up to the UN’s anti-Israel bias. We will never repeat the terrible mistake of Resolution 2334 and allow one-sided Security Council resolutions to condemn Israel. Instead, we will push for action on the real threats we face in the Middle East.

United Nations Resolution 2334 is the controversial policy that the United States abstained from vetoing as one of the last acts of former President Obama before the inauguration. Under that resolution, the United Nations formally condemned the settlements that Israel built in contested lands claimed by the Palestinians.

"We stand for peace," Haley continued.

We support a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is negotiated directly between the two parties, as President Trump reiterated in his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday. The outrageously biased resolutions from the Security Council and the General Assembly only make peace harder to attain by discouraging one of the parties from going to the negotiating table.

Incredibly, the UN Department of Political Affairs has an entire division devoted to Palestinian affairs. Imagine that. There is no division devoted to illegal missile launches from North Korea. There is no division devoted to the world’s number one state-sponsor of terror, Iran. The prejudiced approach to Israeli-Palestinian issues does the peace process no favors. And it bears no relationship to the reality of the world around us.

"It is the UN’s anti-Israel bias that is long overdue for change," Haley concluded. "The United States will not hesitate to speak out against these biases in defense of our friend and ally, Israel."

U.S.A amb to the UN @nikkihaley's strong words on the anti-Israeli hypocrisy of the UN & UNSC.

(Vid via @arik3000)pic.twitter.com/PgZRMXGu6P

— Shlomi Ben Meir (@shlomikliab) February 20, 2017

The statement follows up on Haley's announcement that the United States would take notice of what supposed allies did not back us sufficiently at the United Nations, and would make an appropriate response. Haley also signaled at her confirmation hearing that she would not absolutely follow President Trump's policies as promised on the campaign Trump when she said that she was opposed to the "Muslim ban" and that part of their mission was to "educate" Trump about the benefits of the United Nation.

Trump had promised to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that would enflame Muslim passions because it signals the preeminence of the Jewish claim over the ancient holy city. Trump has since distanced himself from moving the embassy and the Israeli settlements after becoming president.