The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has praised the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, for assuring Israel of her “ironclad support” and pledging to block anti-Israel actions taken by the U.N. In doing so, Ambassador Haley cited UN Security Council Resolution 2334, passed thanks to a US abstention cast by the outgoing Obama Administration on December 27, 2016, condemning Jewish communities in Judea/Samaria as illegal and calling for a Palestinian state on the 1949 armistice lines.

Resolution 2334 absurdly and erroneously describes all territory beyond the 1949 armistice lines as “Occupied Palestinian land,” thereby rendering even the eastern half of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, and the Western Wall adjoining it and the Jewish quarter and the Mount of Olives Cemetery, Hadassah Hospital, and Hebrew University as on “occupied Arab land”. It also calls upon UN member states to distinguish between Israel within the 1949 armistice lines and Judea/Samaria, thereby giving inspiration and legitimacy to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign which, as openly admitted by its founders, is dedicated to Israel’s destruction.

In her confirmation hearings, Ambassador Haley also condemned Resolution 2334, and its successful passage as a result of the US abstention, as the ultimate low,” a “terrible mistake,” and a “kick in the gut” (Natalie Johnson, ‘Nikki Haley Pledges to Block Anti-Israel Actions by United Nations,’ Washington Free Beacon, January 31, 2017).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “We applaud Ambassador Haley’s decision to call Ambassador Danon to affirm the Trump Administration’s strong support for Israel within the United Nations system. 

“Her words strongly commit the Trump Administration to opposing and, in the Security Council, vetoing anti-Israel resolutions or indeed any resolutions that seek to prejudge or impose a settlement that are supposed to be the subject of eventual peace negotiations.

“Indeed, her earlier description of the Obama Administration’s permitting the passage of UNSC Resolution 2334 as being ‘the ultimate low,’ a ‘terrible mistake,’ and a ‘kick in the gut’ indicates that Ambassador Haley understands the problem and is committing herself and the Administration she represents to not repeating it and working to roll it back.

“Jewish residents and communities in Judea/Samaria pose no obstacle to a peace settlement if Palestinians are ever ready to conclude one. As we have repeatedly demonstrated, the claim that these communities are illegal is legally baseless and a piece of false anti-Israel propaganda. We praise Ambassador Haley for indicating that the Trump Administration will not indulge this pernicious, false narrative in its foreign policy, especially at the United Nations.”