Maybe we are hostage to pessimistic realism born of experience, having been around so many well-intentioned but failed peace plans and negotiations. But we’re wary of events and initiatives that are marketed as game-changers, inflection points, sea changes, and transformations designed to bring about peace forever—especially those that are not connected to a process for reaching agreement or implementing them.

Even in a region as angry, dysfunctional, and conflict-ridden as the Middle East, it’s hard to believe we’re entering the third year of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza—a conflict that has now surpassed in duration, horror, fury, and blood all previous Israeli-Palestinian confrontations. There is now a recently minted U.S. peace plan on the table, but its salience and relevance are yet to be tested.

Even in a region as angry, dysfunctional, and conflict-ridden as the Middle East, it’s hard to believe we’re entering the third year of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza—a conflict that has now surpassed in duration, horror, fury, and blood all previous Israeli-Palestinian confrontations. There is now a recently minted U.S. peace plan on the table, but its salience and relevance are yet to be tested.

Maybe we are hostage to pessimistic realism born of experience, having been around so many well-intentioned but failed peace plans and negotiations. But we’re wary of events and initiatives that are marketed as game-changers, inflection points, sea changes, and transformations designed to bring about p