Visiting southern Israel, Nikki Haley blames Iran, Russia and China for October 7
Hamas massacre ‘was orchestrated by Iran. It was helped with Russian intelligence. And it was fueled by money from China,’ former American UN envoy tells reporters in Sderot
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Touring communities affected by the October 7 massacre on Monday, former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley blamed Iran, Russia and China for the devastation wrought by Hamas.
Standing next to Likud MK and onetime UN envoy Danny Danon at the site of the former Sderot police station, which was destroyed on October 7, Haley warned that “if we are arrogant enough,” such an attack “could absolutely happen in America too.”
Hamas’s attack on October 7 “was orchestrated by Iran. It was helped with Russian intelligence. And it was fueled by money from China. Don’t deny that,” Haley claimed, without offering proof to back up her allegations.
“China’s been funding Iran the entire time. Russia’s intelligence helped them know where everything was. Iran helped get them trained. So this isn’t Hamas. These are all murderers and accomplices. If we really mean it’s never going to happen again, we have to be honest and truthful with ourselves [about] who did this,” she said.
While there is no evidence of Russian or Chinese complicity in October 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government has been very critical of Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, while hosting Hamas officials and leading international calls for Israel to halt fighting.
Among other positions, Moscow submitted a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire that did not mention Hamas, and accused Israel of employing “cruel methods” in its campaign against the terror group.
Nikki Haley in Sderot claims without proof that Oct. 7 was “helped with Russian intelligence. And it was fueled by money from China…China’s been funding Iran the entire time. Russia’s intelligence helped them know where everything was. Iran helped get them trained." pic.twitter.com/GKhQy9Hyn8
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) May 27, 2024
China’s foreign ministry announced on Monday that it will host Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, as well as a number of other Arab leaders, in Beijing this week, in order to “issue a common voice between China and Arab countries on the Palestinian issue.”
The trip by Haley, a former South Carolina governor, came as speculation ramped up that she may be angling for a spot on the Republican ticket as vice president to Donald Trump, whom she lost to in the presidential primary. Candidates often visit Israel to burnish their foreign policy credentials and pro-Israel bona fides.
Asked about that possibility, however, Haley said that “Trump has made it very clear that I am not” going to be given that role.
The Republican nominee has said that he believes Haley is going to be “on our team in some form.”
Haley’s visit was organized by MK Danon, whose tenure at the United Nations overlapped with the former American ambassador’s.
Danon has organized multiple tours to the battered south for foreign dignitaries since October 7 and on Monday he brought Haley to Kibbutz Nir Oz and the Nova festival site in Re’im, where she met with survivors and local residents.
Explaining why she is voting for Trump, Haley told reporters in Sderot that she wanted “to know that we’re going to have the backs of our allies and hold our enemies to account. I want to know that we’re going to protect freedom at all costs. We’re going to protect capitalism at all costs.”
Supporting Trump is “about a strong America. It’s about a strong Israel. It’s about having the backs of our friends. It’s about holding our enemies to account,” she said.
Stating that she would not criticize a sitting US president while abroad, Haley proceeded to tear into Democratic President Joe Biden’s Middle East policies, asserting that “the sure way to not help Israel is to not withhold weapons.”
“And if you think this will only be in Israel, if we are arrogant enough, this could absolutely happen in America too and this is the moral of this story,” she claimed, linking the current conflict in Gaza to the United States’ domestic arguments about immigration and border security.
“First of all, an American president should do everything in his power to make sure that that border is secure,” she said. “It’s not far-fetched. It’s not a scare tactic. They went and they used bombs to go and to blow up parts of the [Gaza border] fence. We’re not even requiring them to [use] bombs. We’re just saying: ‘Come on in. Go wherever you want.'”
Asked if he believed that there was any truth to Haley’s claim that Russia and China are involved in October 7, Danon told The Times of Israel that “we have to look very carefully [at] who trained the Hamas terrorists. We have evidence about Iranian involvement.”
Pressed as to whether there was any credible information linking Moscow and Beijing to the attack, he said, “No, we have to look at the rockets and missiles that they were using. Definitely, they came from Russia and China. You have to look deeply who brought it and who gave it to them.”
Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
