TEL AVIV – U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley called her visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Wednesday “life-changing.”
“My heart is full, and my life will change after the visit,” she wrote in the holy site’s visitors book. “It was a blessing to experience a holy place with spiritual people full of love. May God bless whoever comes to the Western Wall.”
The envoy, who has been an outspoken supporter of Israel at the UN, was greeted by hundreds of well-wishers when she arrived at the Jewish holy site thanking her for standing up for the country.
As was the case with President Donald Trump, the Western Wall excursion was billed as a “private” visit.
A section of the wall was cordoned off for her to have some space to pray alone. However, Haley went over to the crowded women’s section to stand with other worshipers.
Haley’s visit to Israel comes days after the country marked the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War and on the exact day that Israeli paratroopers seized control of the Western Wall.
Earlier in the day Haley met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the two discussed how the U.S. would undo an anti-settlements United Nations Security Council resolution passed in the last days of Barack Obama’s presidency, according to Channel 2. At the time, Netanyahu slammed the resolution as a “disgrace.” The resolution called settlements “a flagrant violation under international law” and deemed Judaism’s holiest sites in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and the Temple Mount complex, “occupied Palestinian territory.”
The two also discussed a possible Security Council resolution calling for the removal of Hezbollah forces from southern Lebanon, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Haley and Netanyahu also discussed ways to make the UNIFIL mandate — the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon — more effective in enforcing Security Council Resolution 1701 passed at the end of the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
According to the terms of that resolution, the area from the Israel-Lebanon border to the Litani River is to be an “area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon.”
The terrorist group Hezbollah is in breach of the resolution and operates in the area with tens of thousands of missiles pointed toward Israel, the report said.
However, a senior government official said that UNIFIL was ineffective and the issue of Hezbollah needs to be raised before the Security Council.
“If there is another conflict and we will have to hit missile launchers that are placed in private homes, it will be difficult for the Security Council to condemn us if the matter is brought to the Security Council now,” the official said. “We want to bring to the world’s attention, now, that Hezbollah is arming and using schools and hospitals to place launchers so that if there are victims in the future the world does not come to us with complaints.”
During her three day visit, Haley plans to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, an UNRWA school, and possibly a West Bank settlement, though that has not yet been confirmed. She is also slated to tour the border areas with Gaza and Syria.
Watch Haley’s visit to the Western Wall below:
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