The newly confirmed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations took to a podium recently following the U.N. Security Council’s monthly meeting on Middle East issues. It was the first such meeting Haley has attended – and after describing the meeting as “a bit strange,” she explained why:

“The Security Council is supposed to discuss how to maintain international peace and security. But at our meeting on the Middle East, the discussion was not about Hezbollah’s illegal buildup of rockets in Lebanon. It was not about the money and weapons Iran provides to terrorists. It was not about how we defeat ISIS. It was not about how we hold Bashar al Assad accountable for the slaughter of hundreds and thousands of civilians.

“No – instead the meeting focused on criticizing Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East. I am new around here, but I understand that’s how the Council has operated month after month for decades.”

She made it clear that the United States is no longer going to turn a “blind eye” to what has been the norm for so many years at the U.N.:

“I am here to underscore the ironclad support of the United States for Israel. I am here to emphasize the United States is determined to stand up to the U.N.’s anti-Israel bias. We will never repeat the terrible mistake of Resolution 2334 and allow one-sided Security Council resolutions to condemn Israel.”

Jan Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries and host of the syndicated radio program “Understanding the Times,” describes the ambassador’s statements as “a breath of fresh air.”

“… I think conservatives and pro-Israel supporters find it hard to believe that there’s been such an about-face in U.S. leadership that they would call a spade a spade, as Nikki Haley has done here. To take on the United Nations is really quite stunning and astounding.”

According to Markell, the pro-Israel community is rejoicing and hopeful that Haley’s speech is yet another sign that it’s a new day in U.S.-Israel relations after eight years under the Obama administration.

Ironclad vs. ideology

Janet Mefferd, who hosts a daily talk-show on American Family Radio, had similar comments about Haley’s remarks, describing them as “gold.”

“‘Ironclad support for Israel‘ – it’s so nice to hear that after so long of a stretch where we didn’t hear that from the administration,” she said on-air Thursday. “It’s so nice to see the United States heading in the right direction and supporting out great ally, Israel.”

But she admits the ambassador’s remarks do make her wonder why the U.S. remains in the United Nations.

“This is why so many people have called for such a long time for the United States to get out of the U.N.,” said the talk-show host. “And there have been discussions, there have been suggestions about defunding the U.N. and the United States doing what it can to pull back on its involvement. I continue to believe we certainly could [spend our money better elsewhere].”

Still, she agrees with Haley that the U.N.’s anti-Israel bias needs to change. “But look who’s in the U.N. Who is the biggest ‘block’? The Organization of Islamic Cooperation,” she answered her own question.

The OIC, with 57 member states, is the second-largest inter-governmental organization in the world after the U.N.

“You really think all those people are going to suddenly say Yay, Israel, we’ve been too biased? Let’s change our ways?” Mefferd asked. “When you have a body that will not even condemn a terror attack, how in the world do you eliminate their anti-Israel bias?”

The problem, as she sees it, is that there exists within the OIC an ideology and a religion that is determining how a lot of them think – and that, she admits, is difficult to combat.