Nikki Haley: Candidate for President of U.S. or of Israel?

Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to the UN, tells AIPAC convention in 2017 how she's using her position to advocate for Israel. She received numerous standing ovations, and analysts suggested she was setting herself up for a future presidential run. (photo from video)

Israel spies on the US; steals American technology; tried to sink a U.S. Navy ship with all men aboard, killing 34; embroils America in wars on its behalf; and makes the U.S. complicit in its long record of human rights abuses.

Yet, U.S. politicians from both parties vote to give Israel billions of American tax dollars, as they pander to the Israel lobby and seek campaign donations…

Nikki Haley, who has built her career on that strategy, continues it in her run for president…

Jewish Insider: “Haley has frequently addressed AIPAC conferences and Republican Jewish Coalition events, where she has burnished her reputation as a darling of the pro-Israel establishment. Past contributors include such big-name Jewish benefactors as Miriam Adelson, Bernie Marcus, Daniel Loeb, Ronald Lauder and Samuel Zell, among others…:

“‘Haley’s Jewish outreach is significantly enhanced by her continued connection with her former deputy at the U.N., Jon Lerner, ‘who serves as a political consigliere for her’ and ‘is extremely well-connected and well respected in the pro-Israel Jewish community.’

Excerpted from Jewish Insider [boldface and video added by IAK]

“Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, announced her presidential campaign on Tuesday with robust connections to many prominent Jewish and pro-Israel leaders and activists, whose potential support could lend a crucial boost as she steps up to run against former President Donald Trump in a Republican field that is likely to grow in the coming months.

“Haley, who is expected to formally launch her campaign in Charleston on Wednesday, has frequently addressed AIPAC conferences and Republican Jewish Coalition events, where she has burnished her reputation as a darling of the pro-Israel establishment. Past contributors to her political nonprofit, Stand for America, Inc., include such big-name Jewish benefactors as Dr. Miriam Adelson, Bernie Marcus, Daniel Loeb, Ronald Lauder and Samuel Zell, among others…

“Interviews with a handful of conservative Jewish leaders on Tuesday suggest that Haley’s campaign, which had been widely expected, is naturally generating excitement among pro-Israel activists, even as some of her traditional backers seem relatively cautious, for now, about publicly committing to one particular candidate.

“‘I am extremely proud of Nikki Haley for being the first to stand up and announce running against former President Trump,” Fred Zeidman, a Houston-based GOP donor and pro-Israel advocate, told JI. “It appears that with all the folks talking about it there’s been a great reluctance to stand up and face him, and the fact she’s done it shows great courage and leadership.’

“Last September, Zeidman, who previously donated at least $10,000 to Stand for America, moderated an RJC event in Houston with Haley and Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas.

“Still, he declined to say for the record if he would support Haley’s campaign at this early stage…..

“’Nikki has obviously had a very good relationship with the Jewish community and with folks who care about Israel,’ Nachama Soloveichik, the communications director for Haley’s campaign, said in an interview with JI on Tuesday. ‘I’m confident that we’ll see a lot of folks coming out to support her.’”…..

“Trump’s status within Republican Jewish circles, meanwhile, has diminished somewhat amid the fallout from his controversial dinner with Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West who made a series of antisemitic statements in recent months, and far-right provacateur Nick Fuentes at his Palm Beach residence in November……

“Taylor Budowich, who leads MAGA Inc., a Trump-aligned super PAC, was more direct in a statement responding to Haley’s campaign. “Nikki Haley is just another career politician,” he said on Tuesday. “She started out as a Never Trumper before resigning to serve in the Trump admin. She then resigned early to go rake in money on corporate boards. Now, she’s telling us she represents a ‘new generation.’”…..

“’Haley is a fabulous friend of Israel,’ said Mort Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, who has expressed concerns over Trump’s involvement with antisemites, even as Klein approves of the former president’s Middle East policies……

Norm Coleman, the RJC’s national chairman and a former Republican senator from Minnesota, said in an email to JI that Haley “has strong credibility in the Jewish community from her work at the U.N.” and for “being stalwart on challenging” the organization’s “anti-Israel bias.”

“‘Haley’s Jewish outreach, Coleman added, ‘is significantly enhanced by her continued connection with’ her former deputy at the U.N., Jon Lerner, ‘who serves as a political consigliere for her’ and ‘is extremely well-connected and well respected in the pro-Israel Jewish community.’…..

“Among other Republicans weighing primary campaigns are Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In addition to Haley, Pence and Pompeo have both earned plaudits for their pro-Israel credentials”’…

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