(JNS) Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley officially launched her 2024 presidential campaign, becoming the first Republican to formally toss their hat into the ring against former President Donald Trump.

Sam Markstein, national political director at the Republican Jewish Coalition, recently told JNS that Haley is a longtime friend of the Jewish community and the RJC.

She has “a tremendous record of accomplishment on the issues we care about: being an outspoken defender of Israel at the United Nations, a stalwart opponent of Iran and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Jewish community in the fight against antisemitism,” he said.

As U.N. ambassador in 2017-18, Haley took part in the General Assembly’s first-ever vote seeking to condemn Hamas for a terror attack against Israel. More recently, she has expressed publicly the need to fight antisemitism and support Israel in the wake of antisemitic attacks worldwide and terror attacks in Israel.