Opulence of Qatar leaves impression on visiting Livni

QATAR - Some 20 minutes before her motorcade departed for Doha's international airport, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was taking a timeout at her hotel's private beach.

After her tediously-tight set of meetings, she spread out on one of the deck chairs and looked into the distance at the Persian Gulf. For a few minutes, she felt just like any other tourist.

"I'd come here for a week to rest," she had said a day earlier, just before meeting with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

The night before, Livni wanted to go out and see Doha's large market. Her security guards, however, convinced her to stay in the hotel instead. Had she have gone out, Livni would have seen Qatar's exotic and relaxed nightlife, which is very different than that in the rest of the Arab world.

Qatar has two main hotspots that draw both locals and foreigners.

The first is the Western Gulf, where all the luxury hotels are located.

Each hotel is equipped with a bar or club that would not look out of place in any European capital. Those seeking a drink would find their heart's desire at the Sheraton's Irish bar or the Sky Bar on the top of the Le Cigale Hotel, which has a panoramic view of the city reminiscent of Hong Kong or New York.

The second, more authentic attraction is the Waqf Market adjacent to Doha's ancient mosque. Here, the sweet smell of tobacco permeates the air from the hundreds of hookahs in the cafes and restaurants.

Restaurants dishing out Lebanese, Moroccan, Syrian and Iraqi cuisine line the streets, but not one establishment dedicated to the Qatari kitchen exists - perhaps because locals prefer eating over cooking.

An Israeli visitor to Doha will sense the live-and-let-live atmosphere that allows representatives of the Israeli Foreign Ministry to visit the same city that also serves as a second home to Hamas leader Khaled Meshal.

Souvenir shop owner Yasser Khatani did not get overexcited by the visit of the first Israelis to his establishment.

"Any Israeli will be welcome," he said. The music store owner nearby reacts similarly.

"Israelis? Salam Aleikum!," the vendor shouts. "Do people play the oud in Israel?" he asks curiously, referring to the Middle Eastern stringed-instrument.

To an Israeli visitor, Qatar seems like a place that mixes "A Thousand and One Nights" and New York, Islam and iPod all together.

"I'm used to reading about these things in secret memos and suddenly I had the chance to see it with my own eyes," Livni remarked.

Qatar's affluence is unbelievable. It is filled with SUVs and shiny sport cars; its men adorn expensive wristwatches and cuffs to compensate for the uniformity of their traditional Arab white garb. "I don't want to gossip, but it was astonishing," Livni said, after being invited to lunch with the emir, his wife and other leaders.

The foreign minister can definitely consider the trip to Qatar a success even if it only changed Arab policies by a small measure.

"Real progress has been made," Livni said.

But meanwhile, unless you are on a diplomatic mission, Qatar will remain off-limits to most Israelis.