The Middle East is where bold ideas for peace have gone to die. But that isn’t stopping John Kerry from making a push for peace between Israelis and Palestinians a key focus of his tenure as Secretary of State. Kerry has already made six trips to the region and has managed to get the two parties to agree on a model for restarting talks. No one is placing their bets yet, but here’s The New Republic’s Ben Birnbaum with seven reasons there’s hope for Israeli-Palestinian peace.