On December 23, 2016, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2334 on the Jewish settlements, after the United States abstained from the vote and all other 14 members voted in favor. The Security Council resolution was the first to include such a firm condemnation of the Israeli government’s policy on the settlements since Resolution 465 in 1980. A key motif in the resolution, as emphasized in paragraph 4, is the need to cease all activity concerning the settlements in order to salvage the two-state solution. The preamble to the resolution condemns “all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem” and expresses “grave concern that continuing Israeli settlement activities are dangerously imperilling the viability of the two-State solution based on the 1967 lines.” The resolution stipulates that measures should be taken “to reverse the negative trends on the ground which are steadily eroding the two-State solution and entrenching a one-State reality." These statements, as well as the explanations given by Secretary Kerry and other American administration sources for the United States abstention in the vote, underscore the focus of the resolution on the effort to halt Israeli measures perceived as liable to thwart the implementation of a two-state solution. This refers primarily to construction outside the settlement blocs and Israeli legislative initiatives perceived as intended to change the legal status of the area, along with statements by senior members of the Israeli government members about the end of the two-state era. While the resolution expresses a double standard toward Israel on the part of the countries of the world, these measures by the Israeli government are probably what led to the resolution, on top of the poor relations between the Israeli government and the American administration.

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