Nikki Haley
Photo: AP
Trump's UN nominee to blast world body over Israel
During her Senate confirmation, Governor Nikki Haley is planning to admonish the UN for its 'consistent' and 'outrageous...bias against our close ally Israel.'
US President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be US ambassador to the United Nations will blast the world body over its treatment of Israel at her Senate confirmation hearing, according to prepared testimony seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
"Nowhere has the UN’s failure been more consistent and more outrageous than in its bias against our close ally Israel," Republican South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said in the opening remarks for her appearance on Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"Any honest assessment also finds an institution that is often at odds with American national interests and American taxpayers," the speech says.
Nikki Haley (Photo: AP)
In the remarks, Haley offered some praise for UN activities, such as health and food programs that have saved millions of lives, weapons monitoring and some peacekeeping missions, in something of a departure from Trump, who has disparaged the United Nations.
Other Trump national security nominees, notably his choices for Secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil Corp chairman Rex Tillerson, and Secretary of Defense, retired Marine General James Mattis, have also broken from the Republican president-elect in testimony before the Senate.
Noting that the United States contributes 22 percent of the UN budget, far more than any other country, Haley asked, "Are we getting what we pay for?" She promised to work with US lawmakers to pursue what she described as "seriously needed change" at the United Nations.
Some Republican lawmakers, led by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, have threatened to cut US funding for the United Nations after the Security Council adopted a December 23 resolution demanding an end to settlement building by Israel.
