Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has been endorsed by Jewish groups for her advocacy of the Jewish state.
The Jewish Sanhedrin organisation, whose goal is to build a third Jewish temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, along with two other religious groups, minted coins in Haley’s honour. The coins, picturing Haley in front of the UN, are reportedly available in silver ($65 each) and gold ($90 each) and designed to raise funds for the temple. Before Haley, US President Donald Trump was praised in the same manner for recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
“She supported and she told the truth … that all the United Nations, all its agenda, is to destroy… She acted in a manner that represented biblical tenets”, Sanhedrin spokesman Hillel Weiss stated, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Another organisation, the American Friends of Magen David Adom, which raises funds for the national emergency response team in Israel, granted her the Humanitarian of the Year Award, the Jewish Journal reports. As she was receiving the award, some crowd members reportedly yelled out to her “Nikki for President!” and “Nikki 2020!” The politician told the audience that she does not intend to run in the next election, but pledged to ensure that the US always supports Israel.
While Haley has not expressed an intention to enter the race for the US presidency, she is considered a likely candidate for the Republican nomination in 2024. In February, the former Trump official told The Washington Post that she has not planned that far ahead, reiterating that she has no plans to challenge President Trump with a run in 2020.
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Later, reports by the Washington Examiner said that she is laying the foundation for her presidential bid after Trump’s tenure, and is forming a think tank to remain in the public eye. In February, Haley re-emerged in the spotlight, unveiling "Stand for America", a self-described "advocacy group promoting public policies that strengthen America's economy, culture, and national security".
Picked by Trump to serve as US ambassador to the UN in January 2017, Haley resigned at the end of December 2018 following reports that an anti-corruption watchdog was seeking an investigation into her acceptance of flights on private jets, which it said were a possible violation of federal ethics regulations on gifts to public servants.
During her tenure at the UN, Haley assumed a hawkish stance towards Russia, China, Iran, Syria and other perceived US adversaries, repeatedly getting into verbal sparring matches with Russian UN representatives on topics from sanctions, to Syrian chemical weapons, to diplomatic etiquette.