Haley reiterates support for Israel on Memorial Day visit

Haley reiterates support for Israel on Memorial Day visit

Former 2024 GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley reiterated her support for Israel over a Memorial Day trip to the country this weekend.

Haley, who served two years as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, visited the country’s southern sites that were targeted by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks, which set off more than seven months of war between Israel and the governing power in Gaza.

<em>Danny Danon, a member of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, left, and Nikki Haley, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, react as they visit the home of the Bibas family, who are in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, in Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel, Monday, May 27, 2024. A quarter of Nir Oz residents were killed or kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.</em> (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

She was greeted by Danny Danon, a current member of Israel’s Knesset who served as Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. during Haley’s time in the international body.

Danon posted an edited video on the social media platform X, in which Haley pledged to the Israeli people America’s support.

“What I will tell all Israelis: America is with you. Americans are with you — 1,200 people were brutally murdered. Let’s not forget what happened on Oct. 7. Because Hamas has said they’re going to do it again. We owe it to make sure it never happens again,” Haley said in the video, which Danon posted.

“Don’t listen to what is being said in the media. I reassure you: America stands with Israel!” Danon quoted Haley as saying, in a separate post on X.

Haley was the last candidate standing against former President Trump in the race to become the Republican Party’s 2024 candidate for president.

Haley, both in her time in the U.N. and throughout the months she served as a presidential candidate, made her support for Israel central to her political identity — which Danon noted in his post this weekend thanking Haley for her visit.

“It is with the greatest pleasure that I extend a warm welcome to our esteemed friend, Ambassador Nikki Haley, as she arrives in Israel,” Danon posted Sunday. “@NikkiHaley is a steadfast ally of Israel and a sincere advocate for the Jewish people. It is with immense honor to host her during this significant visit of solidarity.”

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