“Understandably, the Qataris called in all their lobbyists and favors to try to derail the bill, though the final chapter on these issues has yet to be written,” said Broidy, who has sued Qatar for allegedly hacking his emails. Qatar denies his allegations.

UNLIKELY ALLIES
Qatar has also reached out to unlikely allies. In January, Qatar’s lobbyists flew Morton Klein, head of the Zionist Organization of America, first class on Qatar Airways and put him up at the five-star Sheraton Grand Doha Resort for meetings with the country’s leaders.

That included a two-hour, one-on-one palace meeting with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

Klein said Qatari officials promised to kill an Al Jazeera documentary critical of Israel supporters in the United States, eliminate anti-Semitic books from a Doha book fair, and work to release kidnapped Israelis.

Klein remains critical of Qatar but said in an interview last week that he is encouraged by some steps taken to address his concerns. He said the documentary has not aired and he continues to work with officials on other issues.

Last fall, Trump met Sheikh Tamim on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. A Qatari lobbyist said Doha’s message to the United States was they would spend more money on the American base in the country and buy aircraft from Boeing Co.

Within a week of the meeting, state-owned Qatar Airways said it would buy six Boeing aircraft, valued at $2.16 billion. Boeing declined to comment.

Sheikh Tamim met Trump again this April at the White House.

“It took time and resources to replace the blockading states’ lies with the truth, including inviting delegations to visit Qatar and investigate the blockade for themselves,” said Jassim al-Thani, spokesman for the Qatar embassy in Washington.

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