JERUSALEM (AP) - President Donald Trump's ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday the USA will not allow the U.N.to "bully" Israel anymore.
Ambassador Haley landed in Israel on Wednesday morning and had meetings with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin.
Israel Hayom, Israel's pro-Netanyahu free daily, devoted most of its cover Tuesday to Haley, highlighting her threat to withdraw from the Human Rights Council if it does not end its bias against Israel.
"If there's anything I have no patience for it is bullies, and the UN was being such a bully to Israel", US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told Netanyahu during her visit to the Jewish state.
The trip to the Jerusalem holy site was billed as a private visit, much like that of US President Donald Trump last month, in order not to be seen as the US tacitly acknowledging Israel's sovereignty over the Old City.
The George W. Bush administration also cited Israel bashing and the presence of human rights abusers when it pulled out of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the predecessor of the current council.
"In case after case", said Haley, the Council has been "a forum for politics, hypocrisy, and evasion - not the forum for conscience that its founders envisioned".
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"Thank you for all your help and standing up for Israel", Netanyahu added.
"The United States is looking carefully at this Council and our participation in it". "Again, I felt that the United Nations would collapse, you know, that whole scaffolding of lies would just collapse". She said "the U.N was such a bully to Israel because they could".
The US ambassador seemed very keen to make up the most of her visit, telling Rivlin that she looked forward to "taking in the history, the beauty and the tradition that all come with the magic of Israel".
The Council's critical stance of Israel has always been a contentious issue for the United States, Israel's main ally.
As she departed the Kosel plaza, she said, "I am moved by the warm reception that the Israeli public has given me". "I have no patience for bullies, and the United Nations was being such a bully to Israel, because they could".
"With you, Israel is no longer alone at the United Nations, and no longer the UN's punching bag", Rivlin said. "It is essential that this council address its chronic anti-Israel bias if it is to have any credibility". Israel is the only country with a dedicated rights council agenda item, known as Item 7.
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