Launching presidential campaign, Nikki Haley declares support for ‘friend’ Israel
If successful, former US ambassador to the UN declares her administration will ‘stand by our friends Israel and Ukraine against Iran and Russia’
White House hopeful Nikki Haley promised to warmly support Israel should she be successful in her bid for the presidency in 2024.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador during the Donald Trump administration, is betting that her boundary-breaking career as a woman and person of color who governed in the heart of the South before representing the US on the world stage can overcome entrenched support for her onetime boss and Republican competitor, who declared his candidacy in November.
Announcing her intention to run at an event in the historic coastal city of Charleston, Haley said she would “stand by our friends Israel and Ukraine against Iran and Russia.”
“I don’t believe in glass ceilings,” Haley said, continuing: “We need to create a country where anyone can do whatever they want.”
“May the best woman win,” she declared in front of cheering supporters.
In her presidential launch video, Haley can be seen touring Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip in a helicopter, followed by a shot of her walking alongside Likud MK Danny Danon, Israel’s former ambassador to the UN.
I stand before you as the daughter of immigrants, as the wife of a combat veteran, and the mom of two amazing children. I’ve served as governor of the great state of South Carolina and as America’s ambassador to the UN. Above all else, I’m a grateful American citizen who knows… https://t.co/C0SinWInqe
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 15, 2023
Danon and Haley both served overlapping terms at the UN, with Danon celebrating the announcement of his “good friend.”
“Nikki is a true friend of Israel. I have no doubt that she will always stand by our side. Likewise, Israel will always be the closest ally of the US. Good luck Nikki!” Danon tweeted.
Danon recalled hosting Haley for Shabbat dinner at his house.
“We spoke about politics and I told her about the difficulties of running a campaign in Israel. She told me that she never lost a campaign. We know that she is facing very interesting challenges ahead,” he told Arutz Sheva.
“We will always remember what she did at the UN when she stood with me against evil — when she put moral clarity in the front lines of the UN.”
In her posting at the UN, Haley supported her country’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which a previous government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believed threatened Israeli security.
She also pushed for the US to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council, a move supported by Israel due to what she says is the body’s intense bias against the Jewish state.
AP contributed to this report.
