Nikki Haley
Nikki HaleyFlash90

Nikki Haley, former US Ambassador to the United Nations, sharply criticized AIPAC for what she said was its overemphasis on bipartisanship in its outreach to Democrats.

Haley, the ambassador to the United Nations under former President Donald Trump, told a Republican Jewish Coalition conference here that she “loved” the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

“But there’s one thing I don’t get and I’m not saying anything to you that I have not said to their leaders,” she said. “Why do they invite politicians to their conference who strongly support the Iran nuclear deal?”

Haley’s question drew applause from the RJC crowd.

She said AIPAC takes its principle of bipartisanship too far. “I want all Democrats to support Israel as much as Republicans do,” she said. “But if you make bipartisanship the whole reason for existence, then you lose sight of the policies you’re fighting for in the first place.”

“I have spoken at AIPAC events many times and they’ve always been unbelievably supportive to me,” she said. “If a politician supports the disastrous Iran deal, opposes moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, and is embraced by anti-Semites who support the BDS movement,” the movement to boycott Israel, “then your pro-Israel group should have absolutely nothing to do with him.”

An AIPAC spokesman declined to comment on Haley’s speech.