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Nikki Haley, a favorite of the pro-Israel establishment, is the first Republican to challenge Trump
(JTA) — Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who became a pro-Israel favorite during her two years as the Trump administration’s ambassador to the United Nations, announced her bid for the presidency, becoming the first Republican to challenge the former president ahead of 2024.
In a video released Tuesday, Haley did not name Donald Trump, but alluded to him as a polarizing figure, emphasizing her efforts as governor at tamping down racial tensions and also suggesting that the Republican Party was alienating moderate Americans.
“We turned away from fear toward God and the values that still make our country the freest and greatest in the world,” Haley said, describing her 2015 decision to remove Confederate flags from state properties after a racist gunman murdered nine Black worshippers in a Charleston church. “We must turn in that direction again. Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections. That has to change.”
Singling out her removal of the flags stands in her contrast with Trump, who has made a point of upholding resistance to the removal of Confederate moderates. Haley also leans in the 3.5-minute video into her roots as the child of Indian immigrants, another distinction from Trump, who has embraced anti-immigrant movements and has garnered the support of white supremacists. Trump announced his third run for the presidency in November.
Haley, as a governor with a national reputation, was already on the pro-Israel radar when Trump in 2017 named her as his first ambassador to the United Nations. Heading into the job, she consulted closely with pro-Israel groups and forged a close alliance with Israel’s delegation to the body.
Soon she was at the forefront of reversing decades of U.S. policy at the United Nations, preventing the hiring of Palestinians for top jobs, scrubbing Israel-critical reports, quitting the U.N. Human Rights Council and influencing Trump’s cutting of funding to UNRWA, the body providing relief to Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
That profile soon made her a star at conferences of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, where she consistently drew crowds and applause. It was at an AIPAC conference, in fact, when she coined her personal motto: “I wear high heels. It’s not for a fashion statement, it’s because if I see something wrong I will kick it every single time.”
Haley quit her ambassadorship at the end of 2018, but increased her pro-Israel profile. She used an appearance at the 2019 AIPAC conference to announce the establishment of her advocacy group, Stand for America, the first substantive sign she was running for president. She is a star speaker at the Republican Jewish Coalition and used the RJC platform in 2021 to chide AIPAC for what she said was an overemphasis on bipartisanship.
She has also cultivated Trump’s Jewish daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who led Middle East diplomacy under Trump. Kushner’s father Charles has raised funds for her.
Haley used a version of her motto in her video Tuesday, in a way that could be read as a warning to Trump, who takes no prisoners in deriding opponents: “I don’t put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more. If you’re wearing heels.” Haley notably called Trump a bully when in 2016 she backed a rival, Marco Rubio, for the GOP presidential nomination.
Haley’s relationship with Trump is characterized by wariness: Effusively praising him at times and then criticizing him. She seemed to cut him off entirely after the deadly Capitol insurrection by his supporters in 2021. “He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him,” she told Politico the day after the riot. “And we can’t let that ever happen again.”
Within weeks, as it became clear that the GOP was not yet quitting Trump, Haley tried to make any talk of her differences with him the fault of the “liberal media.” “Strong speech by President Trump about the winning policies of his administration and what the party needs to unite behind moving forward,” she said on Twitter in March 2021 after Trump’s first post-presidency speech. “The liberal media wants a GOP civil war. Not gonna happen.”
Haley scores in the single digits in polling and announcing early is one way of getting her out in front; right now, Trump’s most formidable challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has yet to announce, although that has not stopped Trump from criticizing DeSantis almost daily.
Haley can count on pro-Israel money, but even there she has rivals. Mike Pompeo, the former Secretary of State who is also likely to announce a presidential bid, devoted a chunk of his recent autobiography to minimizing Haley’s role in the Trump administration, including in Trump’s Middle East policy. Pompeo accused Haley of plotting with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump to replace Mike Pence as vice-president. Pence, who has broken with Trump, is also considering a presidential run and his deep ties in the pro-Israel community.
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Iran to Completely Close Hormuz if Trump Executes Threats on Iranian Energy, Revolutionary Guards Say
FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo
Iran will completely shut the strategic Strait of Hormuz if US President Donald Trump executes threats to target Iranian energy facilities, the country’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on Sunday.
Trump on Saturday threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48-hours, suggesting a significant escalation barely a day after he talked about “winding down” the war, now in its fourth week.
In their Sunday statement Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also said companies with US shares will be “completely destroyed,” if Iranian energy facilities were targeted by Washington and energy facilities in countries that host US bases will be ‘lawful’ targets.
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Netanyahu in Arad: Iran Has ‘Capacity to Reach Deep into Europe’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Aug. 10, 2025. Photo: ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking Sunday at the site of a missile strike in Arad, said recent Iranian attacks demonstrate that Tehran poses a threat not only to Israel but to global security, urging stronger international action against the Islamic Republic.
“If you want proof that Iran endangers the entire world, the last 48 hours have given it,” Netanyahu said, referring to recent missile fire on Israeli civilian areas. He said the intent behind the strikes was “to murder civilians,” adding that the lack of fatalities in Arad was “due to luck, not their intention.”
Netanyahu also cited Iran’s missile launch toward Jerusalem late last week. The missile landed near major religious sites, including the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He described the incident as evidence of indiscriminate targeting of symbolic and civilian areas.
In addition, he referenced reports of a long-range missile launch toward Diego Garcia, a British territory in the Indian Ocean, saying it demonstrated Iran’s expanding capabilities. He also claimed Iran had previously targeted European territory, including Cyprus, and warned that such developments place multiple regions at risk.
“They have now the capacity to reach deep into Europe,” Netanyahu said. “They are putting everyone in their sights.”
He further accused Iran of threatening international maritime routes and energy supply lines, saying Tehran was attempting to “blackmail the entire world.”
Calling for coordinated international pressure, Netanyahu said Israel and the United States were acting together and urged other countries to follow.
“The call is not only for the security of America and Israel, but for the security of the entire world,” he said, adding that more global involvement was needed.
Responding to reporters, Netanyahu said Israel’s military response is focused on Iranian leadership and infrastructure rather than civilians. “We’re going after the regime… the IRGC, their leaders, their installations, their economic assets,” he said.
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Iran Threatens to Retaliate Against Gulf Energy and Water After Trump Ultimatum
Symbolic mock-ups of Iranian missiles are displayed on a street, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 22, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran said on Sunday it would strike the energy and water systems of its Gulf neighbors in retaliation if US President Donald Trump follows through with a threat to hit Iran’s electricity grid in 48 hours, escalating the three-week-old war.
The prospect of tit-for-tat strikes on civilian infrastructure could deepen the regional crisis and rattle global markets when they reopen on Monday morning.
Air raid sirens sounded across Israel from the early hours of Sunday, warning of incoming missiles from Iran, after scores of people were hurt overnight in two separate attacks in the southern Israeli towns of Arad and Dimona.
The Israeli military said hours later that it was striking Tehran in response.
Trump threatened overnight to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, barely a day after he talked about “winding down” the war. He made the new threat as US Marines and heavy landing craft are heading to the region.
But while attacks on electricity could hurt Iran, they would be potentially catastrophic for its Gulf neighbors, which consume around five times as much power per capita. Electricity makes their gleaming desert cities habitable, and most of them produce nearly all of their drinking water by purifying it from the sea.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf wrote on X that critical infrastructure and energy facilities in the Middle East could be “irreversibly destroyed” should Iranian power plants be attacked.
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards said it would also mean the shipping lane where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally transits along Iran’s southern coast would remain shut.
“The Strait of Hormuz will be completely closed and will not be opened until our destroyed power plants are rebuilt,” the Guards said in a statement.
More than 2,000 people have been killed during the war the US and Israel launched on February 28, which has upended markets, spiked fuel costs, fueled global inflation fears and convulsed the postwar Western alliance.
‘TICKING TIME BOMB OF ELEVATED UNCERTAINTY’
“President Trump’s threat has now placed a 48-hour ticking time bomb of elevated uncertainty over markets,” said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore, who expects stock markets to fall when they reopen on Monday.
Oil prices jumped on Friday, ending the day at their highest in nearly four years.
Markets already under severe strain from blockaded shipping were further rattled last week when Israel attacked a major gas field in Iran, and Tehran responded with strikes on neighbors Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, raising the prospect of damage hindering energy output even if tankers resume sailing.
Iranian attacks have effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, causing the worst oil crisis since the 1970s. Its near-closure sent European gas prices surging as much as 35% last week.
“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” Trump posted on social media around 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 GMT) on Saturday.
Iranian media quoted the country’s representative to the International Maritime Organization as saying the strait remains open to all shipping except vessels linked to “Iran’s enemies.”
Ali Mousavi said passage through the waterway was possible by coordinating security and safety arrangements with Tehran.
Ship-tracking data shows some vessels, such as Indian-flagged ships and a Pakistani oil tanker, have negotiated safe passage through the strait. But the vast majority of ships have remained holed up inside.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters said on Sunday if the US hit Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure, Iran would attack all US energy, information technology and desalination infrastructure in the region.
Striking major Iranian power plants could trigger blackouts, crippling everything from pumps and refineries to export terminals and military command centers.
IRAN EXPANDS RISKS WITH LONG-RANGE MISSILES
The United States and Israel say they have seriously degraded Iran’s ability to project force beyond its borders with their three weeks of intensive air strikes.
But Tehran fired its first known long-range ballistic missiles with a range of 4,000 km (2,500 miles) on Friday towards a US-British Indian Ocean military base, expanding the risk of attacks beyond the Middle East.
An Iranian strike also landed near Israel’s secretive nuclear reactor about 13 km (8 miles) southeast of the city of Dimona.
The war has been taking place alongside a confrontation on a separate front between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, backed by Iran, with Israel saying on Sunday its troops had raided a number of the armed group’s sites in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah said it had attacked several border areas in northern Israel. Israeli emergency services said one person was killed in a kibbutz near the border, the first fatality in Israel killed by fire from Lebanon since the escalation began.
Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel since it entered the regional war on March 2, prompting an Israeli offensive that has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon.
Israel said it had instructed the military to accelerate the demolition of Lebanese homes in “frontline villages” to end threats to Israelis, and to destroy all bridges over Lebanon’s Litani River which it said were used for “terrorist activity”.
Pope Leo appealed for an end to the conflict. “The death and suffering caused by this war are a scandal to the whole human family,” he said.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last week found 59% of Americans disapprove of US strikes against Iran, while 37% approved. The war has become a major political liability for Trump ahead of November elections for Congress.