Through years of careful diplomacy, the US position has always stipulated that the issues between Israel and the Palestinians must be settled by negotiations, not by grandstanding in the UN Security Council. Today the US ambassador to the UN abstained from vetoing a resolution condemning Israeli settlements and by so doing, Ambassador Powers destroyed those years of careful diplomacy.
Please issue a clarification restating the long-standing US position stipulating that the issues between Israel and the Palestinians must be settled by negotiations. This must be done quickly or terrorists will emboldened by an apparent change in the US position. The world is a more dangerous place if the US is seen as condoning unilateral action away from the negotiation table.