#'our first interest is to ensure the security of israel' yeah?? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

deniseyallen · 7 years

Text

Portman, Governor Haley Discuss Efforts to Protect Israel, Counter Russian Propaganda

Washington, D.C. – During the Foreign Relations Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) questioned Governor Nikki Haley – the nominee to be Ambassador to the United Nation – and discussed ways in which the United Nations can promote U.S. national security interests, including efforts to protect Israel and better respond to disinformation and propaganda from Russia, China, and others.

Excerpts of the questioning can be found below and a full video can be found here.

Senator Portman: “Your family story is the quintessential American story. In my view it's a story that the rest of the world appreciates and respects when reminded of it and I think your very presence at the United Nations would be a reminder of that and what makes our country unique. I also think your management skills that you have shown as governor will be effective in encouraging the U.N. to be more efficient, which is a problem in my view. I was once a member of the U.N. Human Rights Subcommittee after the first Bush Administration… it was very interesting experience. You know, you had some positives, which is talking about human rights. You also had some negatives, which is that human rights abusers used it for their own political purposes. And so I do think in response to your question from Senator Murphy that the opportunity for reform is obvious and when all of our taxpayers are paying roughly 22 percent of the budget, I think they do expect to see a more efficient organization that’s more objective and more in keeping with our values and, again, the values that so many other countries seek as well when they look at America’s story that you will represent.

“We have talked about a lot of issues today. My view is that we’re in a more dangerous and volatile world in part because America has not led. If you look at what’s happening on the eastern border of Ukraine with Crimea or the South China Sea today or certainly what’s happening in Syria, part of this is a lack of leadership. And I do think that you also see a crumbling of the very foundation of the post-World War II U.S.-led security umbrella that has kept the peace. So I guess my first question to you is just about that. How do you intend to support U.S. national security interests but also ensure that the U.N. is a more effective body toward promoting a more peaceful and less volatile world?” Governor Haley: “Thank you for that question, senator. I think that first of all we need to really have a conversation with other countries on the importance of them having skin in the game. Because when they have skin in the game, they will care more about how those dollars are spent. I think that’s where we can really bring more efficiencies to the U.N., more effectiveness to the U.N. when we get more involved. That’s something I’m going to try to work on and see if we can get them to understand that being present is not enough. Being invested is what’s going to make the U.N. stronger for everyone. So that is the first thing. I think the second thing is we have to have a very strong voice. We have to be very strong if there are resolutions coming up and we are not seeing resolutions that deal with Syria. And we’re not seeing resolutions that deal with North Korea. And we’re not calling out the violators that are there, that is up to us to bring up that conversation. And for us to start it.” Portman: “Yeah. Israel has been talked about today. Obviously a big issue at the U.N. and I would agree with what was said today about the fact that this relationship is a cornerstone of our strategy in the Middle East. They are our best ally in the region. They are the one democracy in the Middle East. Let me focus on a specific issue which is the Boycotts Divestment and Sanctions movement, BDS. And this is something that I have worked on over the years, actually with Ben Cardin the Ranking Member here. In fact we proposed a number of legislative solutions, one of which is the law of the land now, was passed as part of the Trade Promotion Authority bill which requires us to look at BDS as a trade negotiating objective in our trade agreements – which is an historic change in the way the U.S. has dealt with those. Can you talk a little about that? What do you think should be done with regard to countering Boycott Divestment and Sanction efforts against Israel? Really in the sense of trying to delegitimize Israel. And a little bit about your experience in South Carolina with regard to this issue.” Haley: “Well, first of all, very proud to say as governor of South Carolina that we were the first state in the country to pass an anti-BDS law in our state. So that was trying to really make the point of how important we think it is. I think as we go to the U.N., that is a point that has to be made. We have to look at the fact and call out the fact, why is it that the Security Council is so concerned with Israel? It is an obsession that they have with Israel where they don’t have with North Korea, where they don’t have with Syria where they don’t have with other things going on. It is up to us to talk about the fact that you can’t have boycotts against a country that is just trying to protect its people. I think that you are finding an authority, not a state, that is actually leading the charge on this. I think that that’s wrong. I think we’re going to have to continue to really be more aggressive, call them out, let them know what’s wrong and then find out what their answers are. Because there is no good, fair honest answer on why they continue to pick on Israel. And why they continue to allow these things to happen.” Portman: “We talked briefly about the broader issue of Russia, China, other countries using disinformation and propaganda. There has been a lot of discussion about the meddling in our election here which is a great concern of all of us. Publicly I have heard the U.K. and Germany both express concerns recently on this topic. Certainly when I travel in Eastern Europe, every country in the region is very concerned about this issue of disinformation and specifically the effort to meddle in democracies, fledgling democracies. I wonder in your role as Ambassador what you would intend to do about that? There is a new global engagement center that has been set up at the state department. Senator Murphy and I worked on legislation that was passed as part of the National Defense Authorization bill to establish this. I think the U.S. is asleep at the switch. I think we have not kept up with the propaganda efforts that have come our way and to our allies specifically with regard to technology and being online. Can you comment on that and what you’re willing to do as ambassador to push back against this campaign of disinformation that’s being waged by some countries?” Haley: “Well, first of all, I applaud you for wanting to improve our technologies and the way we handle cyber security issues or other types of hackings and countries getting involved in our business. Because we are behind the curve on that. And we very much need to get in front of it because the rest of the countries are. Having said that we need to make it very clear that we do not accept any country that tries to meddle in any of the business of the United States. And that needs to be made loud and clear. It needs to be made loud of any of the violators. We need to be able to call them out by name and we need to let them know that this is not something that we’re going to allow going forward. And I think this is going to be more of a conversation not just for the United States, but for our European allies and other allies around the world because they are feeling the same thing. And they are concerned about the same thing and in some cases have witnessed the same thing.”

###

from Rob Portman http://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=4ECC6495-8A18-4EA1-A054-FB79AEBE3349

0 notes