But each time an island row flares up, attitudes harden and trust erodes.
Privacy in negotiation is essential because piecemeal comments undermine trust, harden positions and inflame emotional reactions.
More than two weeks of bloodshed have hardened attitudes and pulverized trust between Israelis and Palestinians.
"In writing this book, I have sometimes struggled to trust him," Mr. Harden writes understandably in "Escape From Camp 14".
Family pressures, the Hutton Inquiry's failure to repair the collapse in his personal trust ratings, a hardening of public opinion against the Iraq war and the sickening images from Abu Ghraib all took their toll on Mr Blair's morale.
When trust collapses entirely, suspicion hardens into distrust.
When his intuitions harden into conviction, associates say, even his most trusted advisers cannot budge him.
In Eastern Europe, where people were hardened by modest living standards under communism, the trust in government is more limited.
Where some see the wholesomeness of a brave people who are watching everything they know and trust vanish, others will see deadened, hardened faces, and toxic Americana.
When asked about concerns about data privacy and security, Vic says its Google mission to earn consumers' trust; says security standards need to be hardened.
For Harden, the agency's success has come down to the creation of longstanding trust between his staff, Israel and Palestinian leaders and the people controlling the purse strings back in the US.
