Prominent Republicans and Trump allies have voiced strong opposition to President Donald Trump's reported plan to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 aircraft from Qatar's royal family, raising concerns about national security implications and ethical standards.

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley condemned the arrangement, which would see the Qatari government provide Trump with a lavish aircraft reportedly valued at approximately $400 million.

"Accepting gifts from foreign nations is never a good practice. It threatens intelligence and national security. Especially when that nation supports a terrorist organization and allows those terrorist regimes to live on its soil," Haley said in a post on X. "Regardless of how beautiful the plane may be, it opens a door and implies the President and US can be bought. If this were Biden, we would be furious."

A $400 million plane is not a gift, it's a bribe. It's turning my stomach that Qatar, a state sponsor of terror, has become a major player on the global stage. Hamas is celebrating, which is all you need to know. Thank you so much @KatrinaSzish for having me @NEWSMAX. pic.twitter.com/n1TiP65stV

— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) May 12, 2025

 Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro echoed these concerns. "Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, Al Jazeera, all the rest, that's not America First," Shapiro said. "I think if we switch the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we'd all be freaking out on the right. If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of skeezy stuff needs to stop."

Even staunch Trump supporter Laura Loomer expressed reservations about the arrangement. "I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him. But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million 'gift' from jihadists in suits," Loomer stated.

This is the $400 million 'palace in the sky' Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet being gifted to Trump by the Qatari Royal Family.

Trump confirmed his administration was preparing to accept the aircraft, calling it a "very public and transparent transaction."

pic.twitter.com/0pKdVAS3OF

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 12, 2025

Trump defended his plan to accept the luxury aircraft from Qatar's royal family at the White House on Monday, saying, "It is a very nice gesture. They're giving us a gift. I could be a stupid person and say, 'We don't want a free plane.' It helps us out."

According to reports, the aircraft would be transferred to the US Air Force, which would operate it during Trump's term before it would be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation after his presidency. White House officials have maintained that the arrangement is legal since the aircraft is being given to the Air Force rather than to Trump personally.

The current presidential aircraft fleet includes two Boeing 747-200 planes that have been in operation since 1990. A contract to replace them was signed in 2018 but has faced significant delays, with Boeing previously estimating delivery no earlier than 2029.

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Donald Trump's administration, judging by the president-elect's appointments, will likely be "full-throttle right-wing," with some saying it could be even more hawkish than Israel's current government.

From UN Ambassador Elise Stefanik, who led the battle against terrorism and antisemitism taking hold in US universities, to Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who openly supports annexing the West Bank – something even Israel's government hesitates to commit to – to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth – all are steadfast supporters of Israel.

These appointments show that Donald Trump isn't calculating political costs and makes decisions based on his views and whims, even more boldly than in his first term. However, these individuals weren't appointed for their positions on the Middle East or Israel, but for their loyalty and commitment to the president-elect. This explains why some of our biggest supporters from Trump's first term – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley – are absent from the list.

These Trump appointments help clear some of the fog and question marks of recent months regarding Trump's intentions and future policy. While expressing support and warmth toward Israel, he has also notably courted Arab-American voters, many of whom are decidedly anti-Israel, trying to win them to his side. To Arab voters, he promised to end the war in our region – which they interpreted as a promise to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon before achieving its objectives.

But this isn't just about campaign rhetoric – there's also a meaningful shift within the "royal family." During Trump's first term, the dominant figures were his daughter, Ivanka, who underwent Orthodox conversion to Judaism, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who served as the president's Middle East envoy and advanced the Abraham Accords, as well as the "Deal of the Century" aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ironically, Mahmoud Abbas, who rejected the deal and told Trump to "go to hell," is now actively courting him, trying to extract what the Palestinians refused to accept just a few years ago.

Today, Trump's family circle includes Arab world representatives, including Massad Boulos, his in-law, who might be appointed as his envoy to the Arab world. Boulos's son, Michael, is married to Trump's daughter, Tiffany. The elder Boulos is a Lebanese businessman who ran unsuccessfully for the 2009 Lebanese parliament on a list headed by Suleiman Frangieh, Hezbollah's ally.

Today, Boulos advocates for peace between Israel and Arab states, and it appears his time with Trump has moved him to the pro-Western camp. Nevertheless, Lebanon and the Arab world remain his primary concerns, hence his efforts to convince Trump to bring the war in our region to a swift conclusion.

Besides all this, Trump's second term remains an enigma. He occupies a position of power that few previous White House occupants enjoyed, owing nothing to anyone and needing no one's support.

Will he emerge as an isolationist who despises American involvement in world affairs, believing it comes at American taxpayers' expense, and therefore avoid taking strong action against Iran while seeking calm and stability? Or perhaps, precisely because he's now unencumbered by constraints, will we receive backing and free rein to reorganize the Middle East and advance our relations with the Arab world, while pushing the Palestinian issue off the regional agenda?

During his second White House term, Trump could become the best president we've ever known, but simultaneously, he could prove to be someone who eroded America's commitment and financial and military aid to Israel. Either way – we can only pray and hope for the best.

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Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, has called on Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, to alter their approach when discussing women, urging them to concentrate on policy positions instead. In an interview with Fox News' "Fox & Friends" on Monday, Haley addressed the reasons behind Vice President Kamala Harris's 14-point lead in the gender gap among women.

"I think it's because Donald Trump and JD Vance need to change the way they speak about women," Haley stated. "You don't need to call Kamala dumb. She didn't get this far, you know, just by accident. She's a prosecutor. You don't need to go and talk about intelligence or looks or anything else. Just focus on the policies."

What Nikki Haley fails to realize is that Trump and Vance can't change the way they speak about women without changing the way they think about women. And that will never happen. pic.twitter.com/wwsSBVYPtG

— Maya May (@mayaonstage) September 9, 2024

Haley emphasized that when Republicans resort to calling Democratic women "dumb," it also alienates Republican women. "Republican women get their backs up, too," she noted. "The bottom line is, we win on policies. Stick to the policies, leave all the other stuff. That's how he can win."

Trump has been directing personal attacks at Harris since she entered the race following President Joe Biden's withdrawal. In a recent interview on a New Hampshire-focused podcast, Trump claimed Harris is "not smart enough." "There's something wrong, but we can't go another four years with a dumb president. We can't do it. We had four years with a president that should never have been there, and we can't have it," Trump said.

Despite her critical stance on Trump's rhetoric, Haley has shown support for the former president. At the Republican National Convention in July, she expressed strong backing for Trump, even though she had previously stated she wouldn't endorse him when she exited the GOP presidential primary race earlier this year.

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She was not a president, not a president's wife, nor a movie star. But a short tour with her in Sderot leaves no room for doubt – Nikki Haley is one of the most beloved American women in Israel. 

As the US ambassador to the UN (and even Americans don't know who held that position before or after her), she proved to be a true friend of Israel, one who shoots straight – about the UN, about international hypocrisy, about Arab states and the West, and about the real challenges facing the world. This honesty is coupled with a personal charm that blends toughness and pleasantness, smiles, and sharpness.

Haley (52), a mother of two and daughter of immigrants from India, has been married to Michael, a US Army officer who has been deployed around the world since 1996. She is credited for having made South Caroline thrive as governor, and at the start of Donald Trump's presidency in 2017, he appointed her as ambassador to the UN, where a close friendship was forged between her and then-Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon, who also taught her a lot about Israel and the biased attitude towards it in the glass building in New York.

Q: What made you such a staunch supporter of Israel?

"It's very organic. I was the first governor in America to pass BDS legislation to make sure that we did an anti-BDS movement. That was because it was just the right thing to do. When I got to the United Nations I actually didn't have a lot of knowledge on Israel, or a lot of knowledge on the challenges that they face. I had heard of them. But until you see it, and experience it..and in that first (Security Council) meeting I had on the Middle East, I went in expecting us to talk about challenges in the Middle East. And all they did one by one, every country was Israel bashing over and over and over again. And I couldn't believe what I thought, what I saw. And then all that did was tell me that these are a bunch of bullies while Israel is a bright spot in a tough neighborhood. Israel is constantly trying to survive. And I just keep watching it. And so then I would see, every time when Israel would get hit, everybody would run to Israel, and say, 'Oh, we're so sorry,' but when Israel hits back, the world is quick to go and criticize Israel. And it happens over and over again. And so every time it happens, I'm gonna keep calling it out because it's wrong. Because someone has to call it out."

In late 2018, after less than two years as ambassador to the UN, Haley resigned. The official reason was a desire to return to private life, but many believed she was preparing for a run for the presidency. She didn't do so in the 2020 elections, but instead waited until February 2023, when she announced she would challenge Trump for the Republican nomination for the White House, ahead of the November 2024 elections. Her early jump into the primary pool last year and her successful campaign brought her to a respectable second place, ahead of Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswami, and many other men who crashed fairly quickly. However, even she could not stand up to the Trump juggernaut, and in March 2024 she was the last to drop out of the race. After some rest, she decided to make her first stop in Israel, where she arrived this week. Danon initiated the visit and accompanied Haley throughout. On Monday, she visited Kibbutz Nir Oz, which took the worst hit among the Gaza border communities, with a quarter of its residents murdered in brutal ways or abducted to Gaza. Haley toured the charred houses for a long time, heard representatives of the kibbutz recount some of the atrocities, saw a charred baby crib and a teddy bear that had turned from red to black.

The sights are still heartrending. One of the women accompanying the tour stepped aside to cry, but not a muscle moved on Haley's face. She asked questions, sought to understand the details. The same was true when she heard testimony from a survivor of the Sderot massacre. She seemed very attentive, even if she did not outwardly radiate a storm of emotions. It was clear that the experience intensified what she already thought about the war, about Israel, about Hamas, and about the implications for the entire world.

Q: You followed the war from the start, but now that you're here, seeing things up close and hearing the testimonies. What additional impression did you get?

"Everything was magnified. So my sadness felt deeper. My anger felt stronger. My concern was greater. It was important for me to be able to tell Americans why they should care. Americans are very smart, they're unified with Israel, they really are, they do very much feel a bond with Israel. But they need to feel the pain of this. Because to go and see what I saw at the kibbutz – it's house after house after house and the detail that went into it,  the brutality that went into it. whether it was murders or burning bodies alive, or, you know, all of the horrendous things that happen to young women, whether they were raped or mutilated or any of those things. Every one of those was horrific. Every one felt like a nightmare. But we have to acknowledge that it happened. Because when you acknowledge that it happened, then there are no excuses for why we don't hold the right people accountable."

Q: Why should it be important to Americans? They live their safe lives. Do you think it could happen in the US as well?"

"Look, we have an open border;  our border is completely open. Anyone can come in, we don't vet, we don't do anything.It's not taken seriously. And that's the concern we have. We also know that when these Iranian terrorists, they say 'Death to Israel,' but what do they say next? 'Death to America.' We have to believe them. When they say this, they are saying this because they truly want to destroy all that is free, all that is democracy and the West. That's what they want to do. We can't help them do that. And that's why it's important for Americans to know, Israel is fighting America's enemies."

Q: Could an event like October 7 happen in America?

"We had 911 happen in America. And that was unthinkable for us. We thought we were untouchable. We didn't think something like that could happen. And we watched such an orchestrated plan happen.  And so first you go through shock, how could this happen? Then you go through total sadness, especially in Israel, everyone knew each other, and then you get to anger.But the lesson in all of that is what do you do to make sure it doesn't happen again. The best way to make sure it doesn't happen again is to do it right the first time. And we know that as long as Hamas exists, it can happen again. That's why I've said from the very beginning you need to finish them once and for all."

Q: Iran is very close to acquiring a bomb. Even during your time as ambassador to the UN, and in fact for many years – maybe two decades – US administrations have imposed sanctions on Iran, but these have not been enough. Isn't it time to stop Iran's nuclear program by military force simply because there is no other choice?

"First thing you have to do is where everything is not being done, that should be done. So, if Iranian sanctions were put on, why aren't they being followed?"

Q: But are sanctions enough? We have tried that for many years. 

"First, you have to follow the sanctions and enforce them. The second thing is I have said, I think that it's really important that we go after key IRGC members, and make them feel it, we have to start letting them feel what it's like to be weakened. And they haven't had that. I don't think we go into a full war in Iran. That's not what we're talking about. But we do need to send some messages. And that means if you have to take out some key IRGC members..."

Q: Take out, as in killing them? 

"Finish them"

Q: "At the press conference you held earlier, you said something I heard for the first time – that Russia provided intelligence to Hamas. That's interesting."

"I think that we know that Russian intelligence was involved in helping Iran and Hamas do what they did. And I think that's very important that people know that, that this is, you know, Russia is trying to play both sides of the fence, they can't play both sides of the fence. Russian intelligence was used to learn about Israeli bases to learn what had happened, all of those things, they need to be held accountable for their part in this, they can deny it all they want. But the Russian intelligence was involved.

"The second thing is, Russia was struggling with Ukraine. They'd lost 87% of their fighting forces that started the war, they raised the draft age to 65. They did not win it in five days like they thought they were going to do. And so they were getting weaker. And how is it that all of a sudden, you've got this happen on October 7. And what happened, the world's eyes turned from Russia and Ukraine and started looking at Israel. It's the best birthday President Putin ever got. Because all of a sudden, it turned American, the West to now look at Israel, and stop looking at Ukraine."

"The second thing is, Russia was struggling with Ukraine. They'd lost 87% of their fighting forces that started the war, they raised the draft age to 65. They did not win it in five days like they thought they were going to do. And so they were getting weaker. And how is it that all of a sudden, you've got this happen on October 7. And what happened, the world's eyes turned from Russia and Ukraine, and started looking at Israel. It's the best birthday President Putin ever got. Because all of a sudden, it turned American, the West to now look at Israel, and stop looking at Ukraine."

The Russian Embassy in Israel shot back at Haley's comments and issued a statement this week, saying the following In an interview with Israel Hayom published on May 28, Ms. Haley, known for her long-standing 'love' for our country, decided to hammer into the heads of the Israeli public a 'version' she invented in the spirit of conspiracy theories about Russia's imaginary 'involvement' in the organization of the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Proof? Please: 'I think that we know...(!).'...Once again, an American politician is spreading ridiculous, blatant, and outright lies with absolutely no evidence. This is fake. [The] position of Russia regarding the October 7 tragedy has been repeatedly stated at all levels," the embassy attacked.

"You're the good guys"

Haley analyzes the international aspects of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine in a way few Western politicians do. In a Churchillian speech she delivered last week at the Hudson Institute, she warned that China, Russia, and Iran are observing the West's response to the two wars and will calibrate their future steps accordingly.

"If we don't help our friends beat Russia in Europe and Iran in the Middle East, then China will impose its will over Asia, and America itself will be in serious jeopardy," she said in the speech. "The times we live in look like the 1930s. Our economy is weak. Our country is divided. Our leaders fail adequately to stand up for our allies, even as our enemies target them and set their sights on us," she warned. 

Q: Do you think we are close to a third world war? 

"We shouldn't want that to happen. But what we should do is make sure that we get rid of the enemies. And that's why I think it's important for America and any freedom loving country to understand that standing with Israel is fighting our enemies. And that's the part that we have to understand. And that's the part the Arab community has to also admit. Iran is not just an Israel problem. Iran is not just America's problem. Iran is a world problem that we have to deal with."

Q: Interestingly, the Arab states are quiet, and the protests we have seen in Western countries such as the US, Britain, and France are not seen there. 

There's a reason that the Arab countries are not taking any of the Palestinians because they don't know which ones are Palestinians. They don't know which ones are Hamas…there is something that needs to get out that is hugely important. You had 3000 Hamas terrorists come and invade that border. But thousands of Palestinian citizens also came, also did so many destructive things, and also helped with the murders that can't be overlooked. Because what that means to Israel's security, they don't know who they can trust and who they can. The rest of the world can't say, 'Oh, be nice to the Palestinians,' when these are some of the people who murdered their brothers and sisters. And the world needs to understand that you can't ask them to do that. That's an unfair ask to ask anyone in Israel to suddenly be able to go and put all of that aside to help the Palestinians. They don't know who to trust. That's not Israel's fault. That's the Palestinians' fault now. Now they have to show us how we can trust them again.

Q: I want to move to Biden's policy towards Israel. We do see military aid and shipments arriving from the US since the start of the war, but the President halted a delivery a couple of weeks ago, so the message is mixed. Is this the way the US should be treating Israel these days?

Republicans and Democrats need to understand that this is a war, we all need to make sure we finish. And if you're a friend, be a true friend. So if we want to be a friend to Israel, the best thing America can do is let Israel do its job and just support. We shouldn't be preaching to Israel, we shouldn't be telling them how to win the war, we shouldn't be telling them what they can or can't do. We should just be saying, 'What else do you need?' Bottom line? That's it. That's what I want to see America do: be a friend, a true friend, and make sure all the other countries that are aligned with us are true friends with Israel too."

Q: But the administration has not been doing that. Rather, it has been telling us what to do. For example, 'Don't enter Rafah, bring more and more humanitarian aid' – which goes to Hamas – and so on. What, then, should Israel do? Abide by what the administration says or choose the path of war as we see fit.

"Israel needs to tune out the noise and finish the job. We know that they have to go into Rafah. I know they have to go into Rafa because that's so much where the Hamas movement still is. For them not to go into Rafa is to lead the terrorists still in power. I also know that a lot of the aid that is going into Gaza is feeding Hamas, fueling Hamas using they're using it, and the Palestinians really aren't getting much of it. But this goes back to the fact that if the Palestinians want a better life, they need to get rid of Hamas. They need to change leadership; they need to understand that they are in this situation because of the leaders around them. This is not Israel's job to save the Palestinians, the Palestinians should want to save themselves by getting rid of the terrorists who are trying to control them who are using them as human shields."

Q: What do you think about President Biden not allowing entry into Rafah and not wanting, for example, Israel to encourage emigration from the Gaza Strip to other places in the world? Is it okay with you to allow Gazans to immigrate to other places?

"I think that the Arab countries if they are as concerned about the Palestinians, as they say, they should take them. I have always said, Where is Egypt in all of this? Where's Qatar in all of this? Where are Arab countries that supposedly really care? Why aren't they taking them? It's the same thing that happened when I was at the United Nations. And I cut aid to UNRWA. I cut aid to UNRWA, because I saw what was happening in the schools. I visited the schools, they weren't changing the teaching. They weren't changing the textbooks…we eliminated the funding to UNRWA, but the new administration sent that money back to UNRWA, and what happened? You see all those principals, teachers, everyone, they were actually Hamas terrorists, that were doing this, you see that the tunnels underneath and the data centers underneath, the electricity came from UNRWA schools…I'm going to ask again, are all of those Arab countries willing to fund UNRWA after that? Should UNRWA continue to even exist after that? It shouldn't. And so that goes back to the United Nations. That goes back to the ICC and the ICJ, why did you have strikes in Tel Aviv yesterday? Because when the ICC does that [goes against Israel], you just embolden the terrorists to do it again."

Q: Most Israelis agree with you. But we feel quite alone and we know the truth, unlike the international courts accusing us. So how should Israel react to the decisions against it?

"For the ICC to even mention Israel and Hamas in the same sentence is disgusting. And what I will tell you is there's a reason the United States doesn't give credibility to the ICC. But the ICC just showed the world again, why they don't deserve any credibility. That was immoral, the way they came out, and did that, you can't put the two side by side and say the same thing. I want the ICC, that everything that they have mentioned about Israel, now do Hamas? What are you [the ICC] going to say about the mutilations of those girls? What are you going to say about the rapes of those girls? What are you going to say about the fact that they still hold hostages? What are you going to say about the fact that they burned bodies alive and bragged about it? What are you going to say about the video that came out last week of the girl sitting there, and them [ Hamas] saying these would be good to get pregnant?  That's what I want the UN to focus on. That's what I want the ICC to focus on. Israel  – They're the good guys. And you know what, I want Israelis to know, you're doing the right thing. Don't let anybody make you feel wrong, because Israel is not wrong in this. There are a lot of countries in the world that are wrong because they're siding with the terrorists, and that needs to end. And we need to acknowledge the fact that the last thing Israel needs is for us to go stab them in the back when they're already down."

Q: So should countries who are signatories to the ICC's treaty obey its orders if it seeks to arrest Netanyahu or Gallant? 

"Absolutely not. Because if they do that you're siding with the terrorists. There is no gray between Hamas and Israel. This is the difference between who started it, Hamas, and who's trying to finish it. If this had happened to any of those countries, any of them? I guarantee you, they would be doing the same thing and probably not as careful as Israel is to try and prevent loss of life."

Q: If you were in office now, what would you do as an American leader to the courts in The Hague?"

"They should be sanctioned. I think we should be sanctioning the ICC and ICJ at least from the American standpoint, and I have called on Congress to do that. It should sanction them because if they are going to start to make these kinds of rulings, to our friends, we should let them know that there's a price to pay when you do that. This should be problematic for any country who just witnessed what happened on October 7… I think it's a danger to Israel, but it's a danger to all of us where that could happen. And they could turn around and do the same thing to us."

Trump: Jabs and support

Throughout her public career, Haley has presented a somewhat different kind of politics. Humane, feminine, direct, without ego. She is not surrounded by hoards of security guards and insists people call her "Nikki." But none of this makes her any less tough than the men around her. Perhaps the opposite. In response to a sexist remark by Vivek Ramaswami in one of the debates, she retorted: "I Wear Five-Inch Heels", and I don't wear them unless you can run in them. I wear heels, they're not for a fashion statement, they're for ammunition." That line caught on fire on social media and has already entered the pantheon of American politics. This boldness was directed this past year also towards her main rival in the primaries, Trump. She did not excoriate him completely as senior Republicans who left the party because of him did, but she did not spare him criticism. "We can't have four more years of chaos, retribution, and drama... America needs a captain who will steady the ship, not one who will rock it," she said. She also jabbed Trump for his affinity for dictators like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, and hinted at Biden's advanced age his taking of documents from the White House she termed "irresponsible," yet Haley did not burn her bridges with Trump and described the prosecutions against him as "political."

Just recently she announced that she will still vote for Trump in the elections. This disappointed the Democrats. Haley is considered the unofficial leader of the anti-Trump faction in the Republican Party, and they had hoped she would pull votes their way, or at least remain neutral. The former ambassador was reluctant to discuss politics outside the borders of the US, but it appears she is now seeking to mend fences with the former president, who according to polls will likely be the future president as well.

Q: "You had some nice achievements in the primaries, so I wondered if in your view it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, or if you might try again in the future. And in the same context, if Trump does indeed win the elections, do you see yourself as part of his administration? Many Israelis would certainly welcome such a possibility."

"I really haven't thought about whether there'll be another run or something like that, can't imagine it right now. Just because when you come off 13 or 14 months of strong campaigning and long days, it's not something…you know, I'm spending a lot of time regrouping with my family, my husband's back home from deployment. My son just graduated college. So that's really been what I've focused on. And look, I mean, I have said, who I will be voting for, I will vote for Trump. But the reason that I will is because we need a president who's going to have the backs of our allies and hold our enemies to account. We need a president that's going to really make sure that we have a strong economy with economic freedom, we've got to get our debt under control as well. And I just see everything else that's happened."

"I really haven't thought about whether there'll be another run or something like that, can't imagine it right now. Just because when you come off 13 or 14 months of strong campaigning and long days, it's not something…you know, I'm spending a lot of time regrouping with my family, my husband's back home from deployment. My son just graduated college. So that's really been what I've focused on. And look, I mean, I have said, who I will be voting for, I will vote for Trump. But the reason that I will is because we need a president who's going to have the backs of our allies and hold our enemies to account. We need a president that's going to really make sure that we have a strong economy with economic freedom, we've got to get our debt under control as well. And I just see everything else that's happened."

Q: Now that you are supporting Trump, I read that Democrats are accusing you of being inconsistent. 

If I thought that Trump and Biden were great, I wouldn't have run. But the policies that I ran on are the same policies I'm voting on. And you can't walk away from an ally. You can't hold back weapons from an ally. You can't put America in danger because you're not standing with Ukraine or standing with Israel or making sure that we're protecting ourselves. And when it comes to the border in America, it's open, it needs to be closed. When it comes to helping and having the backs of our allies we need to do that. And I know that from a standpoint – it's not even close – that Trump would make sure that happens. And so that's who I'm voting for. That's what I said, you can look at my statement last week, it stands on its own. But right now I care about America. That's all I care about. I have no political endeavors. There's nothing I'm trying to do. There's nothing I want or I'm trying to push for. It's just because I think it's so important that we have to have a strong America. Because when America's weak, the world is less safe. Yeah. And we're seeing that play out."

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The Russian Embassy in Israel has strongly rejected claims made by former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in an interview Tuesday with Israel Hayom. In the interview, which will be published in full on Friday, Haley accused Russia of providing intelligence to Hamas ahead of the terrorist attack on October 7.

Video: The interview with Israel Hayom / Credit: Moshe Ben Simchon

"They can deny it all they want. But the Russian intelligence was involved, Hamas wouldn't have had all the information," Haley said in the exclusive interview.  She also said, "I think that we know that Russian intelligence was involved in helping Iran and Hamas do what they did." The comments were made in the wake of the pinpointed data Hamas terrorists appeared to have when they raided multiple bases and installations on the Gaza border on Oct. 7. Haley said that Russia had a vested interest in having the conflict erupt on Israel's borders because it would provide for an easy distraction.

"In an interview with Israel Hayom published on May 28, Ms. Haley, known for her long-standing 'love' for our country, decided to hammer into the heads of the Israeli public a 'version' she invented in the spirit of conspiracy theories about Russia's imaginary 'involvement' in the organization of the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Proof? Please: 'I think that we know...(!).' A worthy contribution to the 'highly likely' method of proof also invented by another known lady," the statement continued, apparently comparing Haley to Hillary Clinton and her allegations against Russia over supposed involvement in the 2016 US presidential elections.

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As I approached the entrance of Kibbutz Nir Oz, I saw a crowd of delegates and journalists gathered around former Ambassador to the United Nations and presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Haley was speaking with two members of the Kibbutz, Rita Lifshitz and Ron Baht, who would guide her through the homes and recount the stories of the murdered victims and the captives. Nikki appeared calm and somber, yet I wondered how nervous she might be, remembering my own first time entering a war zone to witness one of the worst atrocities in modern human history.

Nir Oz was one of the kibbutzim devastated on October 7, with 80 of its members murdered and 30 kidnapped. In a small community of 380, this meant that one in four members of the Kibbutz were either kidnapped or killed by Hamas terrorists.

We began walking with Nikki to the home of Oded and Yocheved Lifshitz, two members of Nir Oz who were kidnapped and are Rita's in-laws. Yocheved was released in October as a propaganda act of "good faith" by Hamas, during which she met with Hamas leadership, who spoke to her in Hebrew. Yocheved's husband, Oded, a retired Israeli journalist, remains in Hamas captivity.

Nikki walked through the homes of several other murdered and kidnapped members of the Kibbutz, including Carmela Dan and her granddaughter Noya Dan. Noya's photo, showing her dressed in a Harry Potter costume, was widely circulated and even shared by J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. We also visited the home of the Bibas family, whose two red-headed boys have become symbols of the hostages. Kfir Bibas remains the youngest hostage in Gaza, and the status of his whereabouts, as well as those of his four-year-old brother Ariel and their parents, Shiri and Yarden, is still unknown.

After emerging from the safe room of a home that was completely burned and destroyed, Nikki asked Rita about her stance on peace and how she could recover, knowing that the Palestinian workers planned this attack and "gave Hamas the information." Rita responded, "We here in the Kibbutzim are peace fighters. My father-in-law Oded would take children to hospitals near the Gaza border; in 1984, he went to Gaza to teach them better education. Then Hamas came in and took over, teaching them hate for twenty years. We still believe and know there must be peace with the Palestinian people, not with Hamas."

We then followed Nikki and her delegation to the site of the Re'im Supernova massacre. As we drove, we noticed dark spots in random areas of the road, knowing these marks were from cars with people in them who were torched and burned alive. We arrived at the site of the massacre, where 364 festival-goers and police officers were murdered, and Nikki greeted Tali Binner, a survivor of the festival. I recognized Tali from Sheryl Sandberg's documentary "Screams Before Silence." Tali hid in a trailer at the festival and, while hiding, heard the piercing screams of multiple women being raped and the cries of those watching, begging the Hamas rapists to stop. The screams continued for over ten or fifteen minutes, followed by a gunshot, then silence. Tali explained how difficult it is for her to testify, but she feels compelled to because so many are denying the heinous crimes she directly experienced on October 7.

Nikki asked Tali, "How were they [the terrorists] dressed?" Tali responded, "At the beginning, they were dressed in uniform, with headbands. As time passed, when I came out of the trailer, I saw people who looked like normal civilians, people dressed like me." Nikki then asked, "What do you take away from this?" Tali explained how she used to vote for Meretz and believed in peace and dialogue, but that changed on that Black Saturday.

We concluded the press tour at the old police station in Sderot, where Nikki described her experience. She said that in Kibbutz Nir Oz, they saw "home after home that wasn't just destroyed, but every house we walked into was a total nightmare. You saw families struggling for their lives, trying to protect their kids, with the only means of defense being to hold the doors as tightly as they could to keep the terrorists out." She added, "What was very clear was that they knew what they were doing. They knew exactly which houses to go to. They knew exactly who was going to be in those houses. This was incredibly orchestrated and very detailed."

Nikki concluded on a powerful note: "To all Israelis, don't listen to the soundbites you hear in the media. America stands with you. Americans are with you. We are connected to you."

Nikki Haley has always maintained a firm pro-Israel stance, but why is her visit so important? Witnessing the October 7 crimes has changed me forever—not just emotionally but as a fundamental part of my identity. To strengthen the bonds between Israelis and Americans and for American leadership to truly understand the horrors we faced and why we must continue to fight until the hostages are returned, we need all high-ranking US officials to witness what we did on October 7 and experience a profound transformation. I do not doubt that after processing everything, Nikki Haley will return to the US forever changed as well, and more sure than ever before that she is standing on the right side of history.

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Nikki Haley, former US ambassador to the UN and one of the prominent voices on the American Right, says Israel should ignore the restrictions that President Joe Biden is imposing on it regarding the war in Gaza. Instead, in her view, the fighting should continue until Hamas is eliminated.

Video: Excerpts from Nikki Haley's interview with Israel Hayom / Credit: Moshe Ben Simchon

In an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom, as part of her first tour of the country since the outbreak of the war, Haley attacked Biden and said, "You can't hold back weapons from an ally. So if we want to be a friend to Israel, the best thing America can do is let Israel do its job and just support we shouldn't be preaching to Israel, we shouldn't be telling them how to win the war, we shouldn't tell them what they can or can't do. We should just be saying, what else do you need? Bottom line? That's it. That's what I want to see America do is be a friend, a true friend, and make sure all the other countries that are aligned with us are a true friend with Israel too."

Q: But the administration has not been doing that. Rather, it has been telling us what to do. For example, 'Don't enter Rafah, bring more and more humanitarian aid' – which goes to Hamas – and so on. What, then, should Israel do? Abide by what the administration says or choose the path of war as we see fit.

"Israel needs to tune out the noise and finish the job. We know that they have to go into Rafah. I know they have to go into Rafa because that's so much where the Hamas movement still is. For them not to go into Rafa is to lead the terrorists still in power. I also know that a lot of the aid that is going into Gaza is feeding Hamas, fueling Hamas using they're using it, and the Palestinians really aren't getting much of it. But this goes back to the fact that if the Palestinians want a better life, they need to get rid of Hamas. They need to change leadership; they need to understand that they are in this situation because of the leaders around them. This is not Israel's job to save the Palestinians, the Palestinians should want to save themselves by getting rid of the terrorists who are trying to control them who are using them as human shields."

Haley stressed that Israel must make sure to finish the job the lest Hamas resurges and do the same atrocities it committed on Oct. 7. "The best way to make sure it doesn't happen again is to do it right the first time. And we know that as long as Hamas exists, it can happen again. That's why I've said from the very beginning you need to finish them once and for all."

Haley recently announced she was dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, having surprised many by finishing second in the states she contested. In an interview with Israel Hayom, she addressed her political future and explained, among other things, why she will vote for Trump in November despite the harsh criticism she leveled against him on the stump. Additionally, she called for imposing American sanctions on the international courts at The Hague and demanded that the Biden administration use its veto to protect Israel at the UN. Haley emphasized that the US faces a threat from terrorism by extreme Islam and noted that the treatment of Israel is a test for the Western world.

"I want Israelis to know you're doing the right thing. Don't let anybody make you feel wrong because Israel is not wrong in this. There are a lot of countries in the world that are wrong because they're siding with the terrorists, and that needs to end. And we need to acknowledge the fact that the last thing Israel needs is for us to go stab them in the back when they when they're already down."

Her visit to the country was organized by MK Danny Danon, the former Israeli ambassador to the UN. The two have been close friends since serving together at the UN as representatives of their countries. The conversation with her was held in the office of the mayor of Sderot, Alon Davidi, who hosted her Tuesday in the city as part of a tour of the southern communities hit by the Oct. 7 terrorists.

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In a fiery press conference in Sderot Monday following a tour of the Gaza border region, former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley lambasted the Biden administration's policies towards Israel and Hamas, saying at a time of need, the Biden administration must not withhold weapon shipments or support the efforts to besmirch it in international court.

Video: Nikki Haley tours the south on May 27, 2024 / Moshe Ben Simchon

She said that Israelis should "not listen to media bytes" because  "America is with you. Americans are with you. We are connected to you. And what happened on October 7 hurt us all. It's still personal – 1200 people were brutally murdered; 32 of them were Americans. Eight American hostages. But those numbers blend because we're all together in this."

She added a warning, "Let's not forget what happened on Oct. 7. Let's not close it out of our minds because Hamas has said they're going to do it again. We owe it to make sure it never happens again," and vowed, "I want to know how we can secure the people of Israel and make sure it never happens again – there are two goals – get every single hostage home and make sure Israelis never have to fear their security."

"And so to my Israeli brothers and sisters, what I say to you is we hear you. We see you, we hurt with you, and we mourn every single life that's been lost," she said. "For those families who have hostages that have been taken, we won't stop praying or fighting until we see every one of them come home and get their bodies back if they're not still with us because every family deserves that."

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Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor who challenged former President Donald J. Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, will make a solidarity visit to Israel next week.

Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations during Trump's presidency, plans to tour Israeli communities near the Gaza border as well as the north of the country during her visit beginning Monday, according to Danny Danon, the former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations who will accompany her. She is also scheduled to meet with Israeli leaders and senior security officials.

The trip comes after Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, announced on Wednesday that she would vote for Trump's third bid for the White House, putting aside her past reproaches of his actions after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. She has recently been rumored to be under active consideration to be Trump's running mate, although Trump himself quickly rebuffed this.

Haley mounted an unexpectedly robust challenge to Trump in the Republican primaries, garnering support from a broad coalition of mainstream party donors, officials and voters uneasy with the former president's norm-shattering behavior. She amassed 97 delegates, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

But Trump dominated the primary race from the outset, steamrolling his opponents with a campaign war chest unmatched in modern presidential politics. He ultimately secured the 1,237 delegates required to clinch the Republican nomination on the first ballot.

Ms. Haley's decision to back Trump reflects the former president's continued grip on the Republican base despite his role in the Jan. 6 riot and his third indictment on criminal charges earlier this month. Yet her willingness to join his campaign in some capacity also underscores the fissures within the party over how to move forward after the tumultuous Trump era.

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About 750 boisterous Jewish supporters of the Republican party gathered in Las Vegas this past weekend to hear from potential Republican presidential candidates, along with current elected officials, with the focus on the GOP's goal of taking back the Congress and Senate in the 2022 midterms and the White House in 2024.

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Speaker after speaker at this year's Republican Jewish Coalition conference accused the Biden administration of failing on many issues including damaging the strong US-Israel ties developed under the Trump administration and showing weakness against Iran as it pursues nuclear weapons.

Participants exuded optimism about the upcoming 2022 midterm elections following the successes and gains of the Republican party in state elections last Tuesday, especially the victory of the newly elected GOP governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin.

In a pre-taped message, former US President Donald Trump said that "no president has ever been a better friend to the State of Israel, and I am proud of that."

He went on to list his administration's accomplishments, including moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Trump slammed the Biden administration for showing weakness against Iran and putting the Jewish state in danger. Trump said that US President Joe Biden's "unbelievable weakness toward the Iranian regime directly provoked a missile attack on Israeli civilians," referring to the thousands of rockets fired by Hamas at Israel last May.

"Biden shamefully criticized and slandered the nation of Israel even when it was under attack," he said.

While Trump loomed large over the conference and has yet to signal if he will run for president in 2024, several other speakers included presidential hopefuls, making their pitches to a friendly audience.

Former Vice President Mike Pence told the crowd: "Make no mistake about it, President Joe Biden has turned his back on Israel," citing the current administration's desire to rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that the Trump administration pulled out of in May 2018.

The former vice president also took Biden to task for planning to open a consulate for the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem, a move he said was illegal, by establishing a diplomatic mission for a foreign entity in Israel's capital. Pence called on Congress to intervene in order to prevent the move.

'We can no longer talk about the past'

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley received an exceptionally warm welcome as she reinforced her support for Israel, citing how under her watch the Trump administration pulled out of the United Nation's Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for unfairly singling out and condemning Israel. Under the Biden administration, the United States recently rejoined the UNHRC.

Haley also expressed her admiration for the pro-Israel Washington lobby AIPAC but encouraged the body to distance itself from politicians who support policies harmful to Israel.

"I have spoken at AIPAC events many times, and they've always been unbelievably supportive to me," she said. "If a politician supports the disastrous Iran deal, opposes moving the American embassy to Jerusalem and is embraced by antisemites who support the BDS movement, then your pro-Israel group should have absolutely nothing to do with him."

In addition to focusing on Israel, many of the speakers criticized the Biden administration on domestic issues, including education, critical race theory, personal liberties and freedoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other speakers included Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Israel's former Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer.

Christie, a two-term governor from New Jersey who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2016, urged Republicans to look forward and not back.

"We can no longer talk about the past and past elections," said Christie. "No matter where you stand on that [2020] election – no matter where you stand, it is over. Every minute that we spend talking about 2020, all the wasted time that we're there, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are laying ruin to this country."

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DeSantis, who has gained national popularity and is viewed as being a possible Republican frontrunner for the 2024 presidential election, touted his achievements in office.

"In the state of Florida, I am walking that line. I am standing my ground. I'm not backing down," he said. "We've done an awful lot in the state of Florida. We have a lot more to do, and I have only begun to fight."

The Florida governor, who is up for re-election next year, took aim at the Biden administration over its vaccine and other COVID-related mandates as well as border policies. At the same time, he pointed fingers at the far-left in the Democratic Party, saying that "the woke are antisemitic. They are anti-Israel."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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