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Nikki Haley Visits Israel, Talks Down U.N.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, is in Jerusalem. There she met Israeli leaders who are angry with the way the U.N. treats Israel, and Haley agrees. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Jerusalem.

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Israel is the only country whose human rights record is a permanent item on the U.N. Human Rights Council's agenda. Israel's treatment of Palestinians is a major focus. And out of all the council's resolutions concerning specific countries, Israel ranks at the top. Syria comes in second place. Yesterday, Ambassador Nikki Haley sat across from Israel's president and called the United Nations a bully.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NIKKI HALEY: I have never taken kindly to bullies. And the U.N. has blamed Israel for a very long time. And we're not going to let that happen anymore.

ESTRIN: Haley arrived in Jerusalem the day after she visited the Human Rights Council in Geneva. She told the council it must address what she called its chronic anti-Israel bias. In a separate speech in Geneva, Haley hinted the U.S. could quit the council.

In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Haley she and President Trump are drawing new standards for dealing with the U.N. It makes a world of difference, Netanyahu said. Haley also met with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in the West Bank and discussed the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Jerusalem.

(SOUNDBITE OF OMER KLEIN'S "SLEEPWALKERS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Daniel Estrin is NPR's international correspondent in Jerusalem.