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In a speech on Dec. 28, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended President Barack Obama’s move to allow the U.N. Security Council to target Israeli settlements and declare them illegal. This is what he should have said instead:

On behalf of my administration and president, I apologize for not vetoing resolution 2334. In retrospect, it is incoherent to exclusively attach a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians to the issue of settlements.

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Over the years, Israel has taken every opportunity in search of peace and to further Resolution 242, land for peace. Its interest in furthering peace with all its neighbours is exemplified by its peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan. In the case of the former, Israel tearfully vacated the town of Yamit to trade the Sinai for peace.

Israel’s struggle for peace even included negotiation with Syria and Lebanon at various times and places. But its greatest maturation was to invite Yasser Arafat to Oslo to build a new framework for peace between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Israel. The Oslo Accords were signed in blood, sweat and tears on the lawn of the White House in 1993.