Watch: Nikki Haley Slams ‘Hopelessly Biased’ U.N. Approach to Israel

Simon Kent

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley denounced the world body as “hopelessly biased” against Israel on Tuesday, using her parting address to the monthly Security Council meeting to outline the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan.

Haley, who will exit her post next month, spoke in New York during the council’s meeting on the Middle East.

“Over the past two years, I have attempted to provide more value in this monthly meeting by using my time to speak about other pressing problems in the Middle East,” Haley said. “I’ve done it to illustrate that most of the region’s problems have absolutely nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And I’ve done it to encourage the U.N. to move away from its obsession with Israel.”

Haley continued to excoriate the U.N. by pointing to its many failures to support the only true, functioning democracy in the Middle East.

Most recently it failed to adopt a U.S. resolution condemning terrorism by Hamas. This follows more than 700 resolutions critical of Israel being passed over the years, Haley said.

“This U.N. obsession has been entirely unproductive,” Haley said. “It’s actually worse than that. The UN’s obsession with this issue has been counterproductive. It has sent a loud and false message to the Palestinians that they just might be able to achieve their goals by relying on the U.N., rather than through direct negotiations. And it has sent a loud and accurate message to the Israelis that they can never trust the U.N. This biased obsession is not the path to peace. It is the path to an endless stalemate.”

Haley mentioned the Trump administration plans to unveil a Middle East peace plan early next year as a way forward.

“It brings new elements to the discussion, taking advantage of the new world of technology we now live in,” the U.S. ambassador said. “It recognizes that realities on the ground in the Middle East have changed in powerful and important ways. This plan will be different from all previous ones — the critical question is whether the response to it will be any different.”

Haley’s attack on the U.N.’s approach to Middle East security has been a hallmark of her tenure in the role, something Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged when she announced she was stepping down, applauding Haley for her “courage, intellect, character, and unfailing grace.”

“[Haley’s] frank and clear-eyed assessments of global threats as well as much-needed reforms at the U.N. were in the best tradition of American leadership,” he added.

Haley, a once staunch Never Trumper, was sworn in as ambassador to the United Nations on January 27, 2017. During her time at Turtle Bay, the United States withdrew from the U.N. Human Rights Council — which Haley called a “cesspool of political bias” — and cut funding to the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency to the tune of $300 million.

Last month the U.S. voted against an annual resolution condemning the “occupation” by Israel of the Golan Heights — a change from the U.S. decision to abstain in 2017.

Former Fox News host and state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert will be her replacement in the role.

Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com

 

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