An Israeli organization has minted a coin emblazoned with the face of Nikki Haley, U.S. President Donald Trump's former ambassador to the United Nations, to commemorate her defense of Israel in the world body.
The Sanhedrin, a Jewish organization that dreams of restoring the Jewish Temple, where ancient temples once stood in Jerusalem's Old City, is one of three religious groups behind the Haley coin.
"She supported Israel and she told the truth … that all the United Nations, all its agenda, is to destroy Israel," Hillel Weiss, spokesman for the group, said Wednesday. "She acted in a manner that represented biblical tenets," he added.
Weiss said that Haley's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Human Rights Council and her criticism of what Israel and the U.S. say is an anti-Israel bias at the U.N. earned her the recognition.
His group's coin features Haley's face set against the United Nations building with a Jewish menorah on the front, and a stylized rendition of the Jewish Temple on the back.
Haley became known at the U.N. for her hard line against Iran and her derision of the Human Rights Council. She often chided the council for focusing singularly on Israeli abuses and neglecting poor records of other states – a stance lauded and echoed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In her last pro-Israel gesture after announcing her surprise resignation last fall, she proposed a resolution condemning Hamas for rocket fire against Israeli civilian communities.
Haley also championed Trump's decision to cut U.S. funding to Palestinian refugees and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Trump, a hero to the Sanhedrin group for that very reason, is the face of the group's other coin, first minted last year. The token depicts Trump alongside the Persian King Cyrus. Weiss said he has sold 20,000 of the Trump coins so far.
Proceeds from the biblical coins, the website says, will go toward preparations for establishing the third Jewish Temple – an aspiration with explosive political implications.
