By many measures, prospects for unpicking the Middle East’s intertwined tangles look as slim as ever. On the core question of Palestine, what may be the Israelis’ most intransigent government ever elected faces off against a deeply divided and dysfunctional Palestinian camp. A chill of cold war is creeping across the region, with a frighteningly nuclear-bound Iran and its varied allies who reject Israel confronting an array of pro-Western moderates looking more beleaguered. And meanwhile America, the traditional outside interlocutor, having haemorrhaged diplomatic credibility throughout the eight years of George Bush’s presidency, has plenty of distractions at home.

Yet Barack Obama’s administration looks poised to wade into the Middle Eastern bog. Early on, America’s popular president indicated his seriousness by appointing George Mitchell, a seasoned peacemaker, as his Middle East peace envoy, and by dumping Mr Bush’s policy of refusing to talk to America’s adversaries.

American diplomacy is now shifting into higher gear. With American officials hinting at bolder aspirations, Mr Obama has invited a stream of regional leaders to Washington. In early June he plans to deliver a speech in Cairo, Egypt’s capital and the biggest Arab and Muslim city, to fulfil a promise to address the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims in a bid to restore American prestige and perhaps also to lay out a vision big enough to jolt the region’s cynics and spoilers out of their negative obstinacy.

Many regional actors dislike what they are beginning to hear. Israel’s government, for one, looks increasingly discomfited by the new wind blowing from Washington. Its new prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, argues, among other things, that Mr Obama should somehow spike Iran’s nuclear ambitions before pushing Israel to address the Palestinians.

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