A star is born is our reaction to the first press briefing by President Trump’s new ambassador at the United Nations. The ex-governor of South Carolina was ridiculed by the Left when the president first sent her nomination up to the Hill, owing to her alleged lack of foreign policy chops. She certainly rang the wake up gong for that crowd this morning, after emerging from her first meeting of the Security Council. Tough as nails but with a smile and a layer of Southern charm.
The ambassador had just come from the regular monthly Security Council on Middle East issues. She said it was her first such meeting, and “it was a bit strange.” The Security Council, she said, is supposed to discuss how to maintain international peace and security. But the meeting, she said, was not about Hezbollah’s illegal buildup of rockets in Lebanon, it was not about the money and weapons Iran provides to terrorists, it was not how we defeat ISIS, it was not how we hold Beshar al-Assad accountable for the slaughter of thousands of civilians.
“No,” she said, “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 am here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore. I am here to underscore to the ironclad support of the United States for Israel. I am here to emphasize that the United States is determined to stand up to the U.N.’s anti-Israel bias.”
The ambassador made clear that the Trump administration will not support the kind of resolution from which the Obama administration’s ambassador — Samantha Power — shamefully abstained, though Mrs. Haley was too polite to name the humiliated Ms. Power. “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,” Mrs. Haley said, “the U.N. department of political affairs has an entire division devoted entirely to Palestinian affairs. Imagine that. There is no division devoted to illegal missile launches form 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. The double standards are breathtaking.”
The ambassador warned that it is “the U.N.’s anti-Israel bias that is long overdue for change,” and said America will not hesitate to speak out in defense of its friend in Israel. All this was going on while the press was questioning President Trump on what he was going to do about anti-Semitism. If his ambassador to the world body is any example, the answer is plenty. She has the principles of a Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the grit of a John Bolton, and the star power of a Jeane Kirkpatrick, and in her first press briefing she certainly made her point.
Wonderful that Amb Haley noted Hezbollah rockets first. Enforcing UNSC Res 1701 is #1 priority, which means Russia needs to help. A bit more patience, after 10 years.
@ bernard ross:It is King AbdullahII of Jordan “who holds Trump back on the embassy, the settlements” Not only was he in DC before Netanyahu, but Queen Rania met with Ivanka at TTower on Jan 4 – after that came the slowdowns from TeamTrump.
Jordan does need to be stabilized first, which means the Syria safe zones so the refugees can go back home to Daraa.
Plus, POTUS is facing unprecedented obstruction just in getting his cabinet confirmed.
Better hope John Bolton does NOT get Gen Flynn’s NSA job. Just this past week, Bolton has stated that regime change in Teheran is the only solution (as if that would make any difference: they will still be Persians seeking hegemony); and re-unification is the only solution to Korea (as if China would EVER allow that)
You go, girl! I agree with G.B. above, I’m now proud to be an American!
Trump is exactly who he said he was wrt Israel. It is only BB netanyahu who holds Trump back on the embassy, the settlements and the TSS. Jews here should stop focusing on Trump and focus on pressuring BB. He is the one who asked Trump to wait. Notice how BB backtracked on the new settlement using the false Trump narrative as his excuse. Nothing new there, a consistent MO in line with no settlements outside the major blocks which fits perfectly with his agreements with the sunni arab block. See, even with a supporting US he still tries to keep the Jews in the ghetto boundaries as he agreed with the Arabs, LOL, and now this agreement which I have been speaking of here for years, long before there was any talk of it,….. now it is being called the “outside in” approach as if it were something new. As I have shown here for years these understandings go back to before Qatar leashed Hamas at Cast Lead and explain everything BB did that was controversial right up to the latest mystery of delaying settlements outside the ghetto, delaying the embassy, delaying annexation; he has too much invested in his deal.
and yet there are many very sick Stockholm Syndrome Jews who cling to the leftists and Muslims who hate their guts AND have presided over the largest most massive increase in anti semitism in the western world under the auspices,supervision and direction of a very dangerous leftist Muslim alliance. It matters not what Jews think the left stands for because together with the Muslims they are daily increasing their attacks on Jews. There is existential danger and Jews would be wise NOT to support leftist programs as Jews are also, as a result of their own behavior, being increasingly viewed as in alliance with the enemies of the inhabitants of their host nations. No one will later care to hear about principles and human rights of those trying to kill them. Only jews are foolish enough to travel that path, and look how that worked out.
Thank you President Donald Trump. It has been decades, but I am now able to be “Proud to be an American” because of you, and your stands for freedom, life, peace and prosperity.