Readers of the New York Times and the Washington Post might expect that the Arab world would greet Donald Trump—staunchly pro-Israel, responsible for moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and author of the notorious “Muslim ban”—with grave concern, perhaps a bit of panic. And some have, as the Middle East Media Resource Institute (MEMRI) reports:

The Saudi journalist Abd al-Aziz al-Khames wrote on X: “The Hamas lunatics are saying: ‘The Democratic party’s loss is the natural price it must pay for its ‘criminal’ stance on Gaza. [They speak] as if the winner is an ally of theirs. What you saw during Biden’s term, you will see ten-times worse during Trump’s term.”

But many Arab governments are, to the contrary, breathing “a sigh of relief,” writes Yoel Guzansky:

[T]here is an expectation, particularly in the Gulf states, that Trump will adopt a tougher stance toward Iran than his predecessor, Joe Biden. Iran’s growing confidence and that of its proxies, as demonstrated in Hamas’s October 7 attack, are seen by many in the Gulf as linked to the relatively lenient stance that the United States took toward Iran under Biden’s administration. In addition, Trump is perceived by regional countries as having close relations with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, more importantly, considerable influence over him, to the point of being able to impose his views on Netanyahu.

This attitude, according to MEMRI, is shared by several liberal Arab journalists:

The Palestinian journalist Ayman Khaled wrote: “The world is on the brink of change. The time has come for Iran, the Houthis, Hamas, Hizballah, and all [of Iran’s] militias to weep.” In another post, he wrote: “The real defeat is of ‘the father of the wars,’ Obama, who paved the way for the rise of Iran and its militias. I am not overly optimistic, but removing the obstacle of the Democrats is an important achievement in bringing change to the region.”

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.