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Haley: Biden can foster peace by not ‘caving to Iran or turning on Israel’

Former U.S. ambassador to the UN warns president-elect Joe Biden that rejecting all of Trump’s foreign policy “would be a mistake.”

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called Thursday for President-elect Joe Biden to continue to “encourage the remarkable progress of Arab-Israeli peace” achieved by outgoing President Donald Trump.

“The blooming friendships between Israel and numerous Arab countries have been among the most beautiful developments of the past four years,” Haley said in an op-ed in the Washington Post.

Haley warned that Biden “is sure to feel strong partisan pressure to reject most, if not all, of [President Donald] Trump’s foreign policy.”

“That would be a mistake. Sweeping away the achievements and strategies of the past four years would endanger American safety and interests,” she said.

In what appeared to be a direct dig at Biden’s record while he served as vice-president for eight years under President Barak Obama, Haley said peace was achieved by not sticking with old paradigms.

“The Obama administration said such a peace would never happen. But it did — because of U.S. leadership,” Haley wrote. “Trump refused to accept the tired thinking that the Palestinian cause was the key to broader regional peace.”

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Haley is considered to be a strong candidate to run for the White House in 2024, and stuck with Trump’s aggressive stance against Iran under which the U.S. pulled out of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal and imposed tough new economic sanctions.

The former governor of South Carolina said Trump “put strong pressure on Iran’s murderous regime, which hates the Arab world nearly as much as it hates Israel and our country. Trump’s actions aligned American, Israeli and Arab policy, with peace the result.”

“How can Biden foster a deeper peace? Not by caving to Iran or turning on Israel, both of which would fray the nascent Arab-Israeli bonds that still need strengthening,” Haley said. “The better path is to continue to isolate Iran and encourage harmony between Israel and the Arab states, which now clearly see their common interests. A peaceful Middle East depends on it and is essential to U.S. security.”

Speaking Wednesday at the DiploTech Global Summit organized by Israel’s former ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, Haley praised Israel for its technical prowess that she said could be used to promote peace in the region.

“We all know the research, innovation and technology that comes out of Israel. The world knows how smart Israel is, now it’s time to collaborate and really use the technology for good,” Haley said in an online conversation with Danon.

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“The Arab countries now want to normalize relations with Israel also. They now know that a partnership with Israel is good for them. That a partnership with Israel will bring additional technology, additional innovation, additional friends and additional partnerships in the fight against Iran and terrorism.”