Ambassador calls for reform and to “change the number of refugees to an accurate account”; Haley addresses shift in UN anti-Israel bashing; Haley: They are scared to say anything negative about Israel. They don’t want me to yell at them.
Nikki Haley addressed the Trump Administration’s recent cuts in funding to the UNRWA, as well as the shift in anti-Israel bias at the United Nations.
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations spoke at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington on Tuesday. She talked about how she noticed the anti-Israel bias and abuse during her first “monthly-Israel bashing session”. She stated “I saw, literally, how abusive all of those countries were being to Israel in a way that was pathetic. I had no choice but to stand up and say ‘this is completely wrong’.”
She added “It’s like that kid in the schoolyard that gets bullied and everybody is bullying the kid just because they think it makes them stronger. I wasn’t going to stand for that… I came out and said we are not going to condone this anti-Israel bias. We started to make sure that the “Israel bashing sessions”, as I call them, that they have [happen] once a month… They’re supposed to be sessions on the Middle East, not sessions on Israel. And so now we’re actually making them talk about other areas in the Middle East…”
On the shift towards Israel bashing at the UN, she stated “We are starting to do those things, and now, frankly, they are scared to say anything negative about Israel. They don’t want me to yell at them.”
Ahead of the weekend, the Trump Administration’s announced it would cut $200 million in aid to the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians) in continued efforts to combat the UN’s Palestinian agenda. In January, the Trump Administration cut $65 million in funding for the agency.
Haley addressed the recent fund cuts, referring to the cuts as as “defunding those things that are not helpful to us or in the United States interest,” she stated “The countries that we give money to, do they believe what we believe? Are they still actually wanting to be our partner and work with us? If they are not, and they’re shouting “Death to America”, why would we give them a single penny?”
Reports this week also claim the United States is set to reject the Palestinian’s “right of return” and the UNRWA’s definition of Palestinian refugees, combatting the inflated number of Palestinian refugees claimed by the United Nations. Of the UN’s claim of over 5.3 million Palestinian refugees, only half a million would be recognized.
On the Palestinian right of return, Haley stated Tuesday “I absolutely think we have to look at right of return,” adding that if the UNRWA was to reform and “change the number of refugees to an accurate account, we will look back at partnering them”.
Photo: lev radin/Shutterstock.com
