AP Photo

This should be a rare moment of hope. On Friday Israel got a new government and in a few days it will be treated to a US presidential visit, the first of Barack Obama's second term. You'd think that, like jump leads applied to a car whose battery died years ago, this double jolt of electricity would inject some life into the long-stalled quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace. A new coalition in Israel, a new US secretary of state – one who, by all accounts, has got "the peace bug" – and a renewed American president: it should surely add up to what this enduring problem desperately needs, a fresh start.And yet, to recall Obama's one-time slogan, you'll find almost no one who expresses hope for any change. Expectations for this week's visit are rock bottom. Even those...