With the exception of Qatar, which hosts the exiled political leaders of Hamas, Gulf Arab rulers had grown tired of what they saw as the corruption, inefficiency and infighting of Palestinian leadership. While sympathetic to the plight of ordinary Palestinians, still without a state after 75 years, they largely took the view that Israel was too important a nation to ignore, and that it was time to move on and normalise ties with it. The question of a future Palestinian state, while still featuring in speeches, was getting little practical attention.
