The failed GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley spent her Memorial Day traveling to Israel, where she was photographed Tuesday writing “finish them!” on IDF artillery shells.
Haley also wrote “America loves Israel!” on other bombs along with her autograph, Rolling Stone reported.
The messages came as American support for Israel’s war against Hamas continues to plummet, with repeated strikes against Palestinian civilians leading to widespread condemnation from the west.
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Her artillery message aside, Haley used her Middle East trip to solidify her stance as a staunch backer of Israel. In a press conference, she asserted that the U.S. should continue to arm Israel—but should not tell it what to do with those same weapons.
“America needs to do whatever Israel needs and stop telling them how to fight this war,” she said. “You are either a friend or not a friend.”
Haley posted pictures from a visit to southern Israel, where she met with survivors of Hamas’ infamous Oct. 7 attack that left over a thousand Israeli citizens slaughtered. Since that massacre, more than 36,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza, many of them women and children. Hundreds of thousands of others have been displaced.
Accompanying Haley on her trip to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon was Danny Danon, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations who is a member of the Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
Like Danon, Haley is a former ambassador to the UN, but is no longer in public office. Despite this, she’s used her celebrity as the final GOP candidate to stay in the race against Donald Trump to pressure U.S. officials into continuing to support Israel.
Haley, who said last week she’ll vote for Trump in November despite previously railing against him as a “dangerous” candidate, told reporters that Biden is wrong to withhold weapons from Israel in hopes of stalling its attack on Rafah.
“What America needs to understand is if Israel’s fighting our enemies, how can we not help them,” she said.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to note that it’s unclear where the signed artillery shell will be used.
