Nikki Haley among friends

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley addressed the multitude assembled at the AIPAC policy conference in Washington this past Monday (video below, text here). I am reliably informed by my friends who were there that, with the possible exception of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech, Ambassador Haley’s remarks constituted the highlight of the event. They also emphasized to me that you had to have been there to understand why.

Even so, this is great. AIPAC’s mission is enlisting bipartisan support for Israel. It shuns remarks with a partisan edge, yet Ambassador Haley herself drew a striking contrast with the Obama administration. To no audible dissent, she described Obama’s parting shot at Israel in the UN as “shameful.” Perhaps the truth has a force of its own. In any event, the video is both interesting on its own terms and heartening as a political document.

Quotable quote: “Just about a month before I arrived, the United States allowed Resolution 2334 to pass. It was a shameful day for America. We refused to stand up for our friend when it was singled out for terrible mistreatment. On my first day I assured the Israeli ambassador that on my watch that would never happen again. And I’m proud to say it has not happened again.”

One more: “We will continue to demand that Israel not be treated like some sort of temporary, provisional entity. It cannot be the case that only one country in the world doesn’t get to choose its capital city. It cannot be the case that the U.N. Human Rights Council has a standing agenda item for only one country. It cannot be the case that only one set of refugees throughout the world is counted in a way that causes the number to grow forever. It cannot be the case that in an organization with 193 countries, the United Nations spends half of its time attacking only one country. We will not accept it any longer.”

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