Responsible political leadership matters everywhere, and never more so than when a society feels immobilized by anger or hurt. 

Leadership’s top job? 

“Not necessarily to change minds, but to reopen ears,” says Ned Temko, whose latest Patterns column appears today. In Israel, where Oct. 7 trauma remains fresh, it’s also “not necessarily to deliver a final peace,” he adds, “but to revive that possibility,” he told me. 

As frustration with the war in Gaza mounts, can leaders persuade citizens (and other world leaders) that some postwar vision exists? It’s a necessary first step for a viable path to progress.