Trump’s UN Pick Will Relay Congress’s Fury Over Israel Vote

One of Nikki Haley’s first jobs after winning confirmation to be Donald Trump’s envoy to the United Nations will be to bring U.S. lawmakers’ fury — and threats to cut funding — over criticism of Israel to the global body’s doorstep.

 

Haley, the first woman elected governor of South Carolina, also will face the challenge of winning over skeptical global diplomats stunned by the president-elect’s rapport with Moscow, open questioning of the “One-China” policy, doubts about climate change and antagonism toward historic security alliances.

 

 

“What Trump is saying and doing is causing angst all over the world, and so her first priority is to show that the U.S. is still interested in international diplomacy,” said James Jeffrey, who was deputy national security adviser under President George W. Bush.

 

Haley, 44, was always going to shift U.S. priorities at the UN given the policy differences between Trump and departing President Barack Obama. But that change was accentuated after the U.S.’s abstention in the Security Council last month allowed passage of a resolution condemning Israel’s settlements policy. That fueled bipartisan criticism in Congress and vows from Trump that change is coming with his administration Jan. 20.

 

 

 

The UN has a “biased and ugly approach” to Israel, exemplified by the “one-sided” resolution passed last month, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, told Haley at her confirmation hearing Wednesday.

 

Haley is widely expected to be confirmed for the UN post, despite her lack of experience in international diplomacy. She acknowledged the vote on Israel will affect her UN agenda, telling senators that the Security Council resolution was “a terrible mistake, making a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians even harder to achieve.”

 

“Nowhere has the UN’s failure been more consistent and more outrageous than in its bias against our close ally Israel,” she said.

 

Because U.S. interests at the UN go well beyond Israel — there’s the nuclear deal with Iran, efforts to stymie North Korea’s weapons program, talks over the Syrian war and global peacekeeping operations, among others — Haley needs to strike a balance in keeping Congress happy while building constructive relationships to pursue U.S. foreign policy interests.

 

One of Nikki Haley’s first jobs after winning confirmation to be Donald Trump’s envoy to the United Nations will be to bring U.S. lawmakers’ fury — and threats to cut funding — over criticism of Israel to the global body’s doorstep.

 

Haley, the first woman elected governor of South Carolina, also will face the challenge of winning over skeptical global diplomats stunned by the president-elect’s rapport with Moscow, open questioning of the “One-China” policy, doubts about climate change and antagonism toward historic security alliances.

 

 

“What Trump is saying and doing is causing angst all over the world, and so her first priority is to show that the U.S. is still interested in international diplomacy,” said James Jeffrey, who was deputy national security adviser under President George W. Bush.

 

Haley, 44, was always going to shift U.S. priorities at the UN given the policy differences between Trump and departing President Barack Obama. But that change was accentuated after the U.S.’s abstention in the Security Council last month allowed passage of a resolution condemning Israel’s settlements policy. That fueled bipartisan criticism in Congress and vows from Trump that change is coming with his administration Jan. 20.

 

 

 

The UN has a “biased and ugly approach” to Israel, exemplified by the “one-sided” resolution passed last month, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, told Haley at her confirmation hearing Wednesday.

 

Haley is widely expected to be confirmed for the UN post, despite her lack of experience in international diplomacy. She acknowledged the vote on Israel will affect her UN agenda, telling senators that the Security Council resolution was “a terrible mistake, making a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians even harder to achieve.”

 

“Nowhere has the UN’s failure been more consistent and more outrageous than in its bias against our close ally Israel,” she said.

 

Because U.S. interests at the UN go well beyond Israel — there’s the nuclear deal with Iran, efforts to stymie North Korea’s weapons program, talks over the Syrian war and global peacekeeping operations, among others — Haley needs to strike a balance in keeping Congress happy while building constructive relationships to pursue U.S. foreign policy interests.