Nikki Haley criticized after writing ‘Finish Them’ on Israeli shell

(NewsNation) – Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley wrote “Finish them” on an artillery shell in Israel on Tuesday during her trip to the country, drawing widespread condemnation online.

Danny Danon, a member of the Israeli Knesset, posted a photo on X of Haley signing the gun on Monday.

“That’s what my friend, former ambassador, Nikki Haley wrote on a bullet today during a visit to an artillery post on the northern border,” he said.

This movement quickly received criticism, including from Kenneth Rothformer executive director of Human Rights Watch and currently visiting professor at Princeton.

“Nikki Haley shows who she is. Since Israeli bombing has killed far more Palestinian civilians than fighters, she signs a bombshell, ‘Finish them,'” Roth wrote in X. “Why not just sign it, “‘I am for Israeli war crimes'” .

Israel has been accused of war crimes by several entities since it began bombing Gaza, which killed 36,000 Palestinians living there and spread widespread devastation, according to the local health ministry. This offensive was launched after Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages on October 7.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu, his Defense Minister and three Hamas leaders on war crimes charges earlier this month. Furthermore, the UN’s top court demanded that Israel try to contain deaths and damage while it continues the offensive in Gaza, after South Africa accused the country of genocide. Israel denied these accusations.

“While Americans watch Israel burn Gaza alive and Palestinian children beheaded, Nikki Haley writes love notes about bombs falling on civilians,” Omar Suleimanthe founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute of Islamic Research, posted on X. “Let the world witness your moral depravity.”

NewsNation has reached out to a press contact for comment. Haley, who is currently Walter P. Stern President of the Hudson Institute.

According to Time MagazineHaley, who was governor of South Carolina and former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, went to the site of the Supernova music festival and Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel, which have faced Hamas attacks.

“Early on October 7, the people of Kibbutz Nir Oz woke up in horror. As their homes were torched, terrorists massacred entire families – including babies and grandparents.” Haley wrote on Instagram. “They heard the screams of neighbors set on fire and burned alive. What remained was stolen, looted and destroyed. 1 in 4 of their neighbors were murdered or taken hostage in Gaza. No other country would accept this, neither should Israel.”

Haley’s trip came just days after Israeli forces launched airstrikes that torched a camp housing displaced Palestinians, killing 45 people. This has only further fueled calls for a ceasefire among progressive politicians and activists, who have criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for its support of Israel.

Biden said he would stop supplying offensive weapons to Israel if they invaded the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where many displaced Palestinians have fled to seek shelter. However, NewsNation’s The Hill reports that White House officials, while calling the images coming from Rafah “tragic or horrific,” said Israel’s actions did not cross a “red line” that would lead to change. in US politics” because it was an air strike, not a ground invasion.