My columns from Israel and the West Bank over the past few weeks have been depressing, reflecting my fear that we’re on a bloody, downward spiral that will make everything worse. So let me share what I saw as an ember of hope.

I didn’t expect to find such a thing. On this trip I met with civil society organizations that have toiled for years to bring Israelis and Palestinians together, but frankly I was skeptical of their efforts.

Some good that did, I was thinking. All those feel-good programs, often American-funded, to build bridges — and today we’re engulfed in war.

But let me tell you about an Israeli woman I met, Meytal Ofer: A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with her in Tel Aviv — 10 years to the month after two terrorists from Hamas murdered her father with 41 blows of an ax.