.@UN Ambassador @NikkiHaley responds to President Abbas: “I will not shut up rather I will respectfully speak some hard truths.”
Full @UN Security Council video here: https://t.co/0stkHpLqzA pic.twitter.com/OVyYUSHoS4
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 20, 2018
Back in December, the United Nations overwhelmingly voted to pass a resolution that rejected President Trump’s plan for the U.S. embassy in Israel to move to Jerusalem. Even with that rebuke on the record, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley has said that the Trump administration is not going to reverse its decision.
In a speech aimed at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Haley discussed how negotiation and compromise are the only ways forward. Haley also took time to needle Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who earlier this month said that Haley should “shut up” with her criticisms of Abbas.
“I will decline the advice I was recently given by your top negotiator, Saeb Erekat. I will not shut up. Rather, I will respectfully speak some hard truths,” Haley said. Abbas, who did not remain in the chambers during Haley’s speech, earlier expressed his frustration over the Trump administration’s refusal to get into specifics regarding the Israel-Palestinian peace process even after several meetings about the subject. “This administration has not clarified its position. Is it for the two-state solution or the one-state solution?” Abbas asked.
Haley’s comments and Abbas’s characterization of the Trump administration’s foreign policy skills were all the more notable for being made in front of White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, who so far has been unable to fix all of the problems in Middle East despite his (unclear) efforts to do so.
(Via CNN, C-SPAN & Wall Street Journal)