John Kerry’s speech Wednesday responding to allegations that the Obama administration was the driving force behind last week’s United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements was everything that we have come to expect from him: long, self-referential and mostly beside the point.

Security Council Resolution 2334 states that Israel’s settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem constitutes a “flagrant violation” of international law and demands that it stop. The resolution passed because 14 of the 15 states on the council voted for it, and the U.S., usually the bulwark against anti-Israel measures at the U.N., abstained.