Former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who is considered a top runner for the Republican party’s presidential nomination in 2024, on Saturday night told the crowd at the Republican Jewish Coalition annual leadership conference in Las Vegas that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is taking its outreach to Democrats too far.
“There’s one thing I don’t get about AIPAC, and I’m not saying anything to you that I haven’t said to their leadership,” Haley told the RJC crowd, after saying that she loved AIPAC: “Why do they invite politicians to their conference who strongly support the Iran nuclear deal? Stop rewarding bad behavior. It only gets you more bad behavior,” she said.
Standing ovation for Ambassador at Day 2 of the as she and other notable Republicans spread optimism for the 2022 midterm elections and show support for Israel and the Jewish community pic.twitter.com/4UqRII9vf6
— Ashley Soriano (@ashleynsoriano)
Haley, who served as UN Ambassador from 2017 to 2018, was a strong defender of Israel at the UN Security Council and led the effort to withdraw the US from the United Nations Human Rights Council over its biased treatment of the Jewish State.
AIPAC has been under attack by progressive Democrats who, on occasion, resorted to using anti-Semitic tropes about rich Jews controlling the world.
“Bipartisanship is important,” Haley told the assembled Republican Jews, adding: “But if you make bipartisanship your whole reason for existence, then you lose sight of the policies you’re fighting for in the first place. If a politician supports the disastrous Iran deal, opposes moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, and is embraced by anti-Semites who support the BDS movement, then a pro-Israel group should have absolutely nothing to do with him or her.”
The former Ambassador then offered “friendly observations for the new Israeli government to consider,” most notably: “The Iranian nuclear threat is existential for Israel. If Israel makes the grave decision that its security depends on removing that threat, it should not wait for an American green light that might never come.”
Haley is on the money when it comes to the Squad and their progressive entourage – about 20 members of Congress altogether. But should AIPAC also ditch Democrats who believe in a negotiated deal with Iran, it might as well add an R at the beginning of its acronym and give up on its mission to influence the D folks.
Former Vice President Mike Pence also cautioned the RJC audience about trusting the Democrats, saying: “Make no mistake about it, President Joe Biden has turned his back on Israel.” He listed Biden’s sins: he “restored funding for the Palestinian Authority, announced his intention to rejoin the Iran Nuclear Deal, and now the Biden administration is planning to open a consulate in Jerusalem for the Palestinian people. This is an unlawful step and it’s time for Congress to act to deny President Biden from opening a consulate in Jerusalem.”