While anything could happen in the coming days and weeks, the U.S. appears to be abandoning its commitment to Ukraine’s defense and instead to be set on attempting to repair relations with Russia. Eran Lerman and Daniel Rakov consider what this might mean for Israel and the U.S. more broadly. Among much else, they note that Saudi Arabia has served as host and mediator for talks between Washington and Moscow, and the significance of this role:

If an American (and Saudi!) interest emerges in reintegrating Russia into partnership with the U.S. and the West, this could represent a significant opportunity for Israel to deepen Iran’s isolation. The U.S. would need to demand an end to military-security cooperation between Russia and Iran and require Moscow to clarify to Tehran that it will not provide diplomatic backing if Iran decides to “rush to nuclear capability.”

If, as some have speculated, the purpose of attempting détente with Russia is to turn it against China, it’s also possible this turn would include distancing Russia from Iran, which has become a close ally:

The connection with Iran is not as critical for Russia as it once was, but over the past three years, Russia has recognized the potential for military and economic cooperation with Iran. While an American administration lasts for four years, China and Iran will remain Russia’s neighbors indefinitely. Therefore, it is unlikely that Russia will sever ties with China and Iran. However, greater flexibility in its relationship with the U.S. may make Russia a less reliable supporter of Iranian and Chinese expansionist agendas.

This situation may have costs from Israel’s perspective. . . . Current and former senior Saudi officials have expressed fundamental anti-Israeli positions that deny the legitimacy of sovereign Jewish existence in the land of Israel. Under these circumstances, promoting Saudi Arabia as a significant diplomatic player could translate into Saudi pressure on Trump to “straighten out” the Israeli position.

Lerman and Rakov also observe that

growing isolationist sentiments in the U.S. could pose challenges for future assistance, similar to their current impact on aid to Ukraine. This underscores the need for Israel to expand its domestic production capacity for IDF needs, particularly in munitions.

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.