Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked on Sunday praised the Trump administration's defense of Israel, arguing the Jewish state is no longer "the United Nations' punching bag" with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley's leadership.
Shaked spoke at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York, where she castigated the U.N. General Assembly as a place without "justice and morality." She added that Haley has provided Israel "hope" by acting as an advocate for the Jewish nation in the face of an antagonistic U.N., the Jerusalem Post reported.
"Israel is not the United Nations' punching bag anymore," Shaked said. "We can see the change with Nikki Haley as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations ... Israelis finally feel that we have someone leading the fight for justice and morality in a place without it. We feel like our voice will finally be heard in the halls of the General Assembly."
Shaked directed much of her ire at U.N. Resolution 2334, a measure declaring Israeli settlement activity illegal. The Israeli minister disparaged the resolution as "nothing more than antisemitism and delegitimization of Israel."
"We reject U.N. Resolution 2334. We reject it on legal, moral, and ethical grounds," she said.
Haley previously criticized U.N. resolutions as "outrageously biased" against Israel and decried what she called "breathtaking" double standards against the country.
"It is the U.N.'s anti-Israel bias that is long overdue for change," Haley said after a U.N. Security Council meeting in February.
"Today, we have a partner in the Trump administration in fighting it, and all unnecessary and illegal U.N. resolutions," Shaked added during her speech.
Shaked also praised President Donald Trump's decision not to immediately speak in favor of a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
"I was personally encouraged that the Trump administration did not automatically adopt the two-state solution narrative from previous administrations," said Shaked, who added that the White House is open to other creative approaches.
The justice minister also expressed hope that Trump will move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights on the border with Syria.