The Middle East bears witness to a watershed development as the world goes through the wrap-up motions of 2016. The Security Council has adopted a terribly important resolution demanding a halt to all Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. The development was doubtless facilitated by the US abstention in the “absence of any meaningful peace process” coupled with Barack Obama’s refusal to veto the resolution. Altogether, it has been a snub for the President-elect Donald Trump and Israel; both had urged the White House to stop the historic Security Council resolution. It thus comes about that while the resolution was passed 14-0, the US ambassador Samantha Power’s abstention was greeted with resonant applause. The vote signifies a setback to Israeli policy and a robust expression of “strong support for the two-state solution”. The abstention decision has underlined the tension between President Obama and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who had made strenuous efforts to prevent such a move. Profoundly critical too must be the stipulations of the resolution. It is emphatic on the point that Israel’s settlements on Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have “no legal validity”. It has demanded a halt to “all Israeli settlement activities,” saying this “is essential for salvaging the two-state solution”. Above all, the resolution has reiterated that Israeli settlements are a “flagrant violation” of international law. Quite total is the diplomatic debacle that Israel has suffered, and this is bound to impinge on the dynamics of the chronically unsettled Middle East. At the individual level, the vote has been a major defeat for Mr Netanyahu, who has had a rocky relationship with Mr Obama. More accurately, there is a remarkable consistency in America’s stand. President Obama, in the twilight weeks of his presidency, has abjured the double-think of favouring the expansion of Israeli settlements and (in parallel) championing a viable two-state solution that would end the conflict. That consummation devoutly wished has eluded the Middle East for as long as it has. There is little doubt that the Israeli settlements have seriously undermined the country’s security. In the net, the US has made a choice between settlements and separation. The resolution has been readily welcomed by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Kimoon, who has lost no time in charting the way forward. He has urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to “work with the international community to create a conducive environment for a return to meaningful negotiations”. It is fervently to be hoped that Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas will abide by the voice of the comity of nations and the certitudes of international law. Sad to reflect, the second is being violated with fearsome regularity from the Middle East to Aleppo. It is the international game-theory that cries out for a makeover.