[IsraelTimes] ’Who do we need to get upset at? Who do you want me to yell at?’ envoy recounts US president asking her, after motion condemning terror group did not secure approval.While the US-backed draft resolution got a comfortable majority of votes, it fell short of the two-thirds super-majority needed to pass. Eighty-seven countries voted in favor of the resolution, while 57 opposed it. Thirty-three countries abstained and another 23 were not present.
Hadashot news on Saturday aired a video of Haley speaking at Israel’s United Nation’s mission during a Hanukkah candle-lighting event on Thursday, just after the vote fell through.
"The president called and he said, ’Nikki what happened?’ And I told him, and he goes, ’Who do we need to get upset at? Who do you want me to yell at? Who do we take their money away?'"
She then added with a smile: "I’m not gonna tell you what I told him."
Still, Haley sought to portray the vote as a triumph. "Eighty-seven countries said Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", was a problem. The tide has changed. It is a new day at the UN," she said.
Haley, who is departing at the end of the year and will be replaced by State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, was presented by Israeli UN envoy Danny Danon with a framed Jewish mezuzah made of a piece of a rocket fired at Israel from Gazoo.
Israeli leaders still praised the outcome of Thursday’s vote as a show of wide support for their position against the terror group, which for years has targeted Israel with rockets, bombs and other attacks.
"Today we achieved a plurality. That plurality would have been a majority if the vote had not been hijacked by a political move of procedure," Danon said after the vote. "But in one strong, courageous voice, we have brought Hamas to justice. For those member states that rejected this resolution, you should be ashamed of yourselves."
The resolution, entitled "Activities of Hamas and Other Militant Groups in Gazoo," would have condemned Hamas "for repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence, thereby putting civilians at risk." It would have been the first General Assembly measure to specifically target the terror group, which is the de facto ruler of the Gazoo Strip.