Headline News in Israel: US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley resigns

In a shocking announcement that stunned the State of Israel, Nikki Haley, the frontline defender of the Jewish State who introduced honesty and integrity on the international political stage, resigns as President Trump’s U.N. ambassador.

By i24NEWS – AFP

 

Nikki Haley resigned Tuesday as the US ambassador to the United Nations, in the latest departure from President Donald Trump’s national security team.

Meeting Haley in the Oval Office, Trump said that Haley had done a “fantastic job” and that he would “miss her”, confirming that she would leave her post at the end of the year.

US President Donald Trump and US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley announced her resignation from the Oval Office at the White House on September 10, 2018. – Photo: Olivier Douliery/AFP

“She told me probably six months ago,” Trump told reporters, ‘”I want to take a little time off.'”

Trump praising Haley’s work, said “she got to know the players at the UN” referring to her relationship on a “first name basis” with representatives from China, Russia and India. “We solved a lot of problems,” he added, citing ongoing talks with North Korea.

Haley stayed coy on her reasons for quitting, saying only that it was “important to understand when it’s time to stand aside.” She described her time as ambassador “serving the state that raised her” and the country she “loves so much” as “an honor of a lifetime”

However, she insisted that she was not planning to run for president herself against Trump in 2020, when she would likely be seen as a moderate Republican alternative.

The former governor of South Carolina, Haley took the job with little experience in foreign policy but quickly became the full-throated voice at the United Nations for the often unpopular agenda of Trump.

Haley has pressed for a hawkish line on Iran, justified US cuts to foreign assistance and earlier this year led the United States in bolting from the UN Human Rights Council, accusing it of bias against Washington and Israel.

She is a well-known, vocal advocate for the State of Israel and under her tenure, she has presided over a host of staunchly supportive decisions repeatedly defending the country on the international stage. Meanwhile, her relations with the Palestinians has soured.

AMBASSADOR NIKKI HALEY inspects preserved section of a Hamas attack tunnel, dug beneath Israel was was made to infiltrate into Israeli civilian towns, but uncovered by the IDF and subsequently destroyed. – Photo: MATTY STERN/US EMBASSY TEL AVIV

Detailing her achievements during the press conference on Monday she said, “we will put our embassy where we want to put our embassy.” Haley was referring to Trump’s historic and controversial decision to relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, overturning decades long US policy and met with international criticism.

In December of last year the US announced its withdrawal from the UN’s Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) citing among other issues a “continuing anti-Israel bias.”, Haley, after the body declared the Old City of Hebron to be Palestinian territory, called it an “affront to history.”

In August, the US announced its decision to end its financial support for the UN agency dedicated to providing support humanitarian assistance for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) criticizing it as “irredeemably flawed” and perpetuating an “endlessly crisis-driven service provision model.”

Israel’s ambassador the the UN Danny Danon on Twitter thanked Haley for “standing with the truth without fear” and “for representing the values common to Israel and the United States.”

Israel’s UN Envoy, Amb. Danny Danon Met with US Ambassador Nikki Haley – Photo: U.S. Mission to the UN

He said she “helped lead to a change in Israel’s status in the UN.”

At the recent UN General Assembly session, Haley took the highly unusual step for a senior diplomat of joining street protesters against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, shouting from a megaphone that the leftist leader should leave office.

The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley had long been seen as a rising star in the Republican Party which has eagerly sought female and ethnic minorities to broaden the appeal beyond its traditional white demographic.

Haley, whose given name was Nimrata Randhawa, was elected governor in 2010 of deeply Republican South Carolina and, during the 2016 campaign, had criticized Trump over his remarks on immigrants before their political reconciliation.

Haley’s is the latest resignation in a turbulent White House, where Trump is already on his third national security adviser and second secretary of state before even the midterm elections.

 

View original i24NEWS publication at:
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/185985-181009-nikki-haley-resigns-as-trump-s-un-ambassador-us-media