President-elect Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the United Nations called the recent Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction “a kick in the gut,” though she said she also opposes the settlement expansion.
“What I think happened with 2334 was a kick in the gut to everyone,” South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Trump’s choice for U.N. representative, said during her Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday. “And so we can think what we want to think on settlements, but you have to think that the U.S. abstention … was wrong.”
Sen. Mark Udall, D-N.M., reminded Haley that Ronald Reagan called on Israel to freeze settlement and repeatedly asked if she supports that policy. “Yes,” she conceded.
He argued Haley’s criticism of the resolution is inappropriate given that Samantha Power, the current U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., similarly denounced the U.N.’s tendency to target Israel while emphasizing that American presidents since Lyndon Johnson have opposed settlement construction.
“Our vote today is fully in line with the bipartisan history of how American presidents have approached both the issue and the role of this body,” Power said.
But Haley repeatedly denounced the U.N. resolution, which passed unanimously through the security council after President Obama declined to veto it, as an abandonment of Israel that also harmed the United States.
“We made Israel more vulnerable; we made America more vulnerable in that we don’t stand by our allies,” she said. “I do understand the issue on settlements. I do understand how they think that could hinder peace. But at the same time I will always stand with Israel and make sure that they know we’re an ally and the rest of the world knows we’re an ally.”
