In remarks that were uncritically disseminated by several news outlets, former President Obama defended his decision not to veto United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 on the grounds that settlements were rapidly expanding. Yet, the truth is otherwise, as CAMERA noted in The Daily Caller. 
Thanks to a US abstention the UN Security Council has passed Resolution 2334, asserting that Israeli settlements have "no legal validity" and are a "flagrant violation under international law." Will the resolution be counterproductive, like the settlement freeze President Obama imposed on Israel in 2009? Or will it help advance the cause of peace? 
President Obama's speech at the State Department on May 19 outlined his administration’s policy in the Middle East and North Africa, making some clean breaks with what had been key elements of US policy in the region for decades.