Nikki Haley quits post at UN

(Photo AP)

US President Donald Trump has accepted Nikki Haley's resignation as US ambassador to the United Nations, saying she would be leaving his administration at the end of the year.

In the White House's Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump called the ambassador a "very special" person "who gets it", adding that she told him six months ago that she might want to take some time off.

Trump said that together they "solved a lot of problems".

Haley, 46, said she had no immediate plans, and denied she would be running for president in 2020.
Trump said on Tuesday that she could have her "pick" of posts if she ever decided to come back to the administration.
Before she was named by Trump to her UN post, Haley was governor of South Carolina, the first woman to hold the post. She was re-elected in 2014.The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley clashed with then-candidate Trump during the 2016 campaign. Trump picked her nevertheless.
During her time as the UN ambassador, Haley was outspoken on several issues.
Just after taking her post in 2017, Haley said the Trump administration was going to push for an overhaul of the world body and warned those who opposed Washington's policies that she was "taking names".. "For those that don't have our back, we're taking names, we will make points to respond to that accordingly."
She issued a similar warning during a General Assembly vote in December 2017 on a resolution against Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy.
She was oparticularly tough on the Palestinian issue which owe her the thanks of Israel.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Haley for her support of the Israel at the UN and said she had fought hypocrisy at the organization, after her resignation had become known.  
"I would like to thank Ambassador Nikki Haley, who led the uncompromising struggle against hypocrisy at the UN, and on behalf of the truth and justice of our country," Netanyahu tweeted. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, echoed Netanyahu's remarks, applauding her stance towards the Jewish State.  Recently, Haley suggested the right of return for Palestinian refugees could be removed from any eventual peace settlement with Israel. She also accused the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) of exaggerating the number of Palestinian refugees it currently provides aid to and services for. Last month, the US said it was stopping its funding for UNRWA