Nikki Haley: ‘Pro-Hamas countries’ Qatar, Iran and Turkey should take in Palestinians fleeing war

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

US Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley waves after addresseing the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Annual Leadership Summmit on October 28, 2023 at the Venetian Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP)
US Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley waves after addresseing the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Annual Leadership Summmit on October 28, 2023 at the Venetian Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP)

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says Egypt as well as “pro-Hamas countries” Qatar, Iran and Turkey should take in Palestinians trying to flee the war in Gaza.

Asked where fleeing Palestinians should go, Haley tells ABC News in an interview, “They should be going to the Rafah gate and [have] Egypt take them.”

“But I’ve always said that what you should have is that they should go to pro-Hamas countries — Qatar, Iran, Turkey… send them there… Those are pro-Hamas countries.

“Why won’t Egypt take them? Because they don’t trust which ones are terrorists and which ones aren’t? It’s a sad state of affairs, but the reality of that evil is very clear in Arab countries too. Arab countries have very much always been cautious and know the threats that Iran can place,” she says.

“They don’t want those terrorist proxies coming after them. Saudi Arabia felt the Houthis in that fight for Yemen. Egypt knows exactly what they can do.

“Why isn’t everybody talking to Egypt? Why aren’t they talking to Turkey? Why aren’t they talking to Qatar? Why aren’t they talking to Iran? Why aren’t they doing something to help the Palestinians? Why is it that you come back to Israel and the US? It’s always the case.”

“If [the October 7 attack] had happened to America, do you not think that we would have hit back?” asks Haley, who is trying to pull off an improbable primary win over GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.

Most Popular