On August 27, Naftali Bennett and Joe Biden met in the White House: the first meeting with an American head of state for Bennett since becoming prime minister, and the first meeting with a head of the Israeli government for Biden since becoming president. Jonathan Schanzer considers the future of the alliance between Jerusalem and Washington in light of the new administrations, and changing global circumstances:

Shared Western values have been the cornerstone of the U.S.-Israel relationship for more than 70 years. But that relationship now needs a greater sense of common purpose.

Israel may seek to demonstrate how it can support America in [its] looming tussle with Beijing. The Israelis can set an example for how allies can optimize their economic and diplomatic engagements with America’s adversary to mitigate risk—and in fact, are already doing so, even if there is more work to be done. Israel could also serve as the eyes and ears for America in the Middle East, where China clearly seeks to build up assets.

The future could also be built on military cooperation. Israel is one of the few military powers capable of defending American interests, even when America is unwilling or unable to do so. It has played this role for years, taking out the Iraqi and Syrian nuclear programs and undermining the Iranian program through cyber and other means. Looking ahead, the Israelis could forge deeper alliances with some of their new peace partners in pursuit of this mission.

Addressing a recent meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Committee, Mahmoud Abbas criticized Hamas more sharply than he has previously (at least in public), calling them “sons of dogs.” The eighty-nine-year-old Palestinian Authority president urged the terrorist group to “stop the war of extermination in Gaza” and “hand over the American hostages.” The editors of the New York Sun comment:

Mr. Abbas has long been at odds with Hamas, which violently ousted his Fatah party from Gaza in 2007. The tone of today’s outburst, though, is new. Comparing rivals to canines, which Arabs consider dirty, is startling. Its motivation, though, was unrelated to the plight of the 59 remaining hostages, including 23 living ones. Instead, it was an attempt to use an opportune moment for reviving Abbas’s receding clout.

[W]hile Hamas’s popularity among Palestinians soared after its orgy of killing on October 7, 2023, it is now sinking. The terrorists are hoarding Gaza aid caches that Israel declines to replenish. As the war drags on, anti-Hamas protests rage across the Strip. Polls show that Hamas’s previously elevated support among West Bank Arabs is also down. Striking the iron while it’s hot, Abbas apparently longs to retake center stage. Can he?

Diminishing support for Hamas is yet to match the contempt Arabs feel toward Abbas himself. Hamas considers him irrelevant for what it calls “the resistance.”

[Meanwhile], Abbas is yet to condemn Hamas’s October 7 massacre. His recent announcement of ending alms for terror is a ruse.

Abbas, it’s worth noting, hasn’t saved all his epithets for Hamas. He also twice said of the Americans, “may their fathers be cursed.” Of course, after a long career of anti-Semitic incitement, Abbas can’t be expected to have a moral awakening. Nor is there much incentive for him to fake one. But, like the protests in Gaza, Abbas’s recent diatribe is a sign that Hamas is perceived as weak and that its stock is sinking.