Nikki Haley Is Unmatched Star Of AIPAC

Image by Forward Montage

By Nathan Guttman March 27, 2017

Declaring that the “days of Israel bashing are over,” U.S. ambassador to the United Nations received a rockstar welcome from AIPAC delegates gathered in Washington for their annual conference.

Haley, who had become an instant heroine for the pro-Israel community after declaring on her first day on the job that she would fight bias against the Jewish state, delivered an even stronger message to the 20,000 strong crowd at the Verizon Center in downtown DC.

“I knew they said it was bad, but until you hear it and you see it, you just can’t comprehend,” Haley said of the UN anti-Israel bias.

Haley spoke out against the Obama administration’s decision to allow a resolution critical of Israel’s settlement policy to pass in the Security Council last December, stating that what happened was “not only embarrassing, it was hurtful” and describing the move as America’s “weakest point ever.”

Haley also recalled her move to nix the nomination of former Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad to a top UN position, stating that Palestinians will get “no freebees” until they come to the table.

“I wear heels,” Haley concluded her fiery address, “It’s not for a fashion statement. It’s because if I see something wrong, we’re going to kick ‘em.”

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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