Nikki Haley is slowly rising in the Republican presidential primary polls. She put in good performances in the first two RNC debates and it is starting to pay off.

Haley and the other Republicans running in the primary have been slow to criticize Trump or draw sharp distinctions between his record and what they pledge to do in office. That’s a problem when the frontrunner, Trump, is so far ahead in the polls. Haley spoke out in Las Vegas on Saturday at the Republican Jewish Coalition annual summit. It’s a gathering for donors so if there is ever a good time to distinguish yourself as a candidate from the others, it is a gathering like that. A candidate has to give donors a reason to support him or her.

So, Nikki Haley took Trump to task for being an agent of chaos. She said his style of “chaos, vendettas and drama” is dangerous. What worked in 2016 no longer works.

“Eight years ago, it was good to have a leader who broke things,” Haley told the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. “But right now, we need to have a leader who also knows how to put things back together.”

The Republican primary was always going to be Trump versus whoever rose to be the top challenger in the primary. Do Republicans want to stay with Trump or do they want someone younger, perhaps better positioned to beat Joe Biden? Primary voters are the grassroots of the party and so far Trump continues to lead the pack. Polls, however, are often wrong and since not a single vote has been cast in a primary or caucus yet, it is hard to definitively say that Trump will be the nominee. There are plenty of Trump surrogates who are adamant that it is Trump or no one, and that includes some in conservative media, including Fox News Channel show hosts. But they will have to help Trump win back independent voters and women, two groups that Trump lost in 2020.

According to the Real Clear Politics aggregate, Trump is at 59.1%, DeSantis is at 12.6%, and Haley is in third place at 8.3%.

Haley’s strong suit at this time in history is her foreign policy experience. She has the experience of a governor and she also has experience as the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

She launched a clear rebuke of Trump’s recent comments critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not being “not prepared” for the Oct. 7 massacre, comments that appeared to be driven by animosity over his contention that Netanyahu was disloyal to him by congratulating President Biden on his 2020 win.

Trump also called the fellow anti-Israeli Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah — designated as terrorists by the US — “very smart.” His campaign later clarified that “smart does not equal good.”

“As president, I will not compliment Hezbollah. Nor will I criticize Israel’s prime minister in the middle of tragedy and war,” Haley vowed. “I will also not compliment Chinese Communist President Xi. Nor will I call North Korea’s Kim Jong Un my friend.”

“History will record that Donald Trump was a pro-Israel president,” she said, rattling through his achievements such as the Abraham Accords. “But as Americans, we need to ask a critical question. We all know what Trump did in the past. The question is… what will he do in the future?”

That is the problem for the not-Trump candidates – Trump’s record in office. He was a good president. He was doing well up until COVID-19 and the pandemic when he allowed Fauci and the CDC (along with teacher unions) to control the country. That is what separates him from Ron DeSantis, for example, and how DeSantis led Florida through the pandemic. Haley was tough as a U.N. ambassador and made us proud regularly in her opposition to nefarious actors who wish to do harm to the United States. She does not suffer fools lightly.

“The stakes couldn’t be higher. And given those stakes, we cannot have four years of chaos, vendettas, and drama,” she added in a jab at her old boss.

Trump tried to do some clean-up at the RJC with his remarks on social media. He pledged his support to Israel.

“When I am back in the White House, our enemies will once again realize that ‘if you spill a drop of American blood, we will spill a gallon of yours,’” Trump pledged during his speech.

We’ll see how Haley does at the next debate and if she continues to challenge DeSantis for second place. We are in dangerous times and need calm and steady, but firm and unwavering, leadership.