Officials with the Muslim Brotherhood and other extremists are demanding that Obama live up to his rhetoric by dropping Israel and allowing Sharia law to flourish in the Middle East, the Times of Israel reports.
"Accepting the will of the Arab people is the most important change," wrote Muslim Brotherhood official Issam al-Aryan on his Facebook page, suggesting that the Brotherhood be allowed to set the tone in the region. "In the absence of direct American influence, Egypt can affect and lead the process of building a democratic and constitutional regime that will become a dream for African and the southern hemisphere."
A Hamas official expressed hope that a second Obama term might include policy changes more to the group's liking. "He now has an opportunity to implement those promises to the nations of the region, far from pressures by the Israel lobby and politicized money," said Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu. He also suggested that Obama adopt "a moral policy, devoid of double standards" toward regional issues.
Although Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received Obama's victory warmly, the Palestinian Authority was not without its own demands on the American leader.
"We have decided to take the Palestinian issue to the UN and we hope that Obama will stand by this Palestinian right," said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. "What Obama needs to do is stop the Israeli settlement policy and not act to stop the Palestinian activity at the UN," he said, referring to America's defunding of a United Nations agency after it admitted Palestine as an official member.
Iran, a sponsor of Hamas, also chided the president by comparing his peace rhetoric to crippling sanctions his government imposed on the Islamic Republic. Judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani attacked "US crimes against the Iranian people" and added that "the Americans should not think they can gain concessions from the Iranian people by coming to the negotiating table."
The Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Thursday.
If Iran decided it wanted to negotiate with America, it would be "prepared to negotiate with the devil in the pits of hell," said international affairs adviser Mohammad Javad Larijani about U.S. peace overtures.