The U.S. Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, has come and gone, again, with peace talks still on hold and one Israeli commentator, Yossi Sarid, musing that “the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a black hole that swallows up goodwill ambassadors through the ages.”

I can’t argue with that. Cold wars come and go, new technologies transform the world, but the clash of Zionism and Palestinian nationalism in the Holy Land defeats resolution.

Right now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thinks Palestinians are “up a tree” (a eucalyptus tree, to be precise) and Palestinians think Netanyahu’s a deceitful bully (the lead Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, characterized his tone as, “Come here, boy, we know what’s best for you.”)

Feeling optimistic already? I confess I am — or rather, the complete despair about the “peace process” with which I arrived in Israel has eased. O.K., that’s not exactly optimism, but in the Middle East small mercies count...