Cont.......

Explaining the U.S. vote, Power quoted a 1982 statement from then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan, which declared that Washington “will not support the use of any additional land for the purpose of settlements.”
“That has been the policy of every administration, Republican and Democrat, since before President Reagan and all the way through to the present day,” Power said.

“One would think that it would be a routine vote,” Power said. But she acknowledged that, in reality, the vote was “not straightforward” because it occurred at the United Nations, a body that has singled out Israel for criticism for decades.

In a statement, Secretary of State John Kerry said the vote was guided by one principle: “To preserve the possibility of the two-state solution.”

MSW leaves out that this US abstention followed months of secret negotiations - it was no surprise! It was a response to continued Bibi settlement expansion decisions. (MSW thinks this is a Palestinian conspiracy - DUH??)