“When Obama came to power, he is the one who announced that settlement activity must be stopped. If America says it and Europe says it and the whole world says it, you want me not to say it?”

– Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in describing why he all of a sudden has held up Israeli housing construction as an impediment to peace talks. The takeaway from this is that President Obama’s introduction of the settlement issue has destroyed the peace process he touted two months ago, which is a testament to Obama’s diplomatic prowess if ever there was one.