OPINION:
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is just about killing it at the global body.
In recent remarks to the General Assembly, Haley first condemned the anti-Israel faction of the bunch for using the global body for politics, not peace promotion. And then, dramatically enough, she brought to vote a U.S.-penned measure that explicitly faulted Hamas for violence at the Gaza border — a measure that was tacked on as an amendment to an anti-Israel resolution and that actually received the thumbs-up from the majority of the voting parties.
Did you get that? It actually received a majority backing.
This Haley amendment ultimately failed, due to a procedural glitch — a politically strategic glitch that came only after most in the body, 62 versus 58 (with 42 abstentions) voted in favor of the add-on. But what’s clear is this: Haley, who’s been rocking at the United Nations since day one, hasn’t slowed her pro-Israel bent a bit.
She’s entirely unafraid to take on the forces who want nothing more than to see Israel wiped from the face of the map.
Here’s a taste of what she told the General Assembly this week, in context of discussing the resolution condemning Israel for “excessive force” at the Gaza border.
“This resolution blames everything on Israel,” she said. “It does not even mention Hamas.”
And then this: “Gaza is an important international matter. But what makes it different and more urgent than conflicts in Nicaragua, Iran, Yemen, Burma or many other desperate places? Because we haven’t gathered here to discuss any of these urgent issues. … What makes Gaza different for some is that attacking Israel is their favorite political sport.”
And then this: “[This resolution] is totally one-sided. It makes not one mention of Hamas who routinely initiates violence in Gaza. Such one-sided resolutions at the U.N. do nothing to advance peace.”
She then said such resolutions actually hurt the peace process because they give those in Gaza the idea that the fault for the violence rests entirely with Israel.
Her solution?
A tack-on to the anti-Israel resolution that condemns Hamas. A tack-on that first passed but ultimately failed because General Assembly powers-who-be decided that the amendment didn’t receive a two-thirds majority vote — a procedural slap in the face to Israel and to the 62 countries that voted for its inclusion.
“Shameful,” is how Haley put it.
Regardless, the vote showed a decided change in heart at the United Nations — and it has to be noted that this change is due in large part to Haley’s consistent and bold pro-Israel, pro-United States diplomatic leadership.
“It’s a new day at the @UN,” Haley tweeted, in the aftermath of the vote. “We were proud that more countries were on the right side of history … than weren’t, when it came to condemning Hamas and holding them responsible for Gaza.”
And the world is taking notice.
“While procedural maneuvers were used to block it, we’re proud that by working with the Americans and our friends around the world, a majority of nations in the U.N. voted for the first time to condemn the terrorists of Hamas,” tweeted Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon.
That’s huge. That’s historic. And that’s the big stick Haley’s been carrying for some time at the global body.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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