Former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley discussed the US diplomatic efforts in the Middle East at the Israel Hayom Forum for US-Israel Relations held in Jerusalem on Thursday evening.
Interviewed by Dr. Miriam Adelson, Haley said that her approach as UN ambassador of “kicking” anyone she saw doing the wrong thing “was the only approach we could use.”
“You had a situation where there was this organization of 193 countries that were anti-American and anti-Israel, continuing to give us a hard time, but had their hand out for aid. I didn’t want to just be another ambassador. I felt the American people deserved that,” said Haley, who added that she would not do anything differently because “the truth needed to be said, without any apology.”
Addressing the US-led conference in Bahrain this week which the Palestinian Authority boycotted, the former ambassador said, “Working toward peace is never a waste of time. We should all want peace, should all want a peace plan to be successful.”
She noted that she has seen the US peace plan which she described as “well thought out, detailed, doable. It does things that would improve the lives of the Palestinians, but would not compromise the security of Israel.”
“The Trump administration has been courageous. We’re not going to beg the Palestinians to come to the peace table, but it says a lot about the PA that they wouldn’t want better for their own people. The Palestinians deserve better. I think the Arab community will see over time that they can’t continue to babysit the Palestinians,” added Haley.
Asked what Israel should do if the Palestinians insist on rejecting the peace deal, Haley replied, “I think we should see how the peace plan plays out. We should be open minded. Jerusalem was stating a fact, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, no matter what Arab countries were telling their citizens, it’s the truth. The Trump administration said, we have all our embassies in capitals. Jerusalem is capital, why would we not have our embassy there?” Continue Reading…..