Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was bombarded with criticism after she wrote "Finish them!" on an Israeli artillery shell.
An image of Haley crouched in front of pallets of shells, writing with a marker on one, was shared on social media by Danny Danon, an Israeli politician and former ambassador to the United Nations, Reuters reported.
A second image he shared showed her message: "Finish them – America HEART Israel, Always."
Haley wrote the message on an 155mm artillery shell during a trip to Israel's northern border with Lebanon.
She also visited sites of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack along the border with Gaza, including the sight of the Nova music festival massacre, the Washington Examiner reported.
The message was not well received by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which released a lengthy denouncement.
"Only a genocidal anti-Palestinian racist could sign 'finish them' on the same type of artillery shells that the Israeli government has used to slaughter innocent Palestinians for months, including dozens of women and children burned to death in the horrific May 26th attack," it wrote, referring to the death of dozens of Palestinian civilians over a fire Palestinian authorities alleged was started by an Israeli airstrike.
"Nikki Haley's grotesque display of support for Israel's genocide follows her previous call for Palestinian refugees to be ethnically cleansed from their land and forced into neighboring countries," it added. "By championing U.S. complicity in Israel's genocide of Palestinians following a tour of illegal Israeli settlements, Haley marks herself as a shameless advocate for occupation and genocide."
Amnesty International USA condemned Haley's move as well, saying in a post on X: "Conflict is no place for stunts."
Actor John Cusack went ballistic, posting a string of denunciations on his X account, calling Haley a "vicious thuggette," "ghoul," and "criminally insane."
"What can you say about a human being who writes this? You could tell her to go to HELL but she's already in it," he wrote.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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