Jerusalem ( CNN ) -- The recent visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington primarily focused on Iran 's nuclear program -- a long way from previous meetings that had , more often than not , focused on Israeli-Palestinian relations . There is little talk about a peace process these days . The Arab Awakening , as it 's known in the region , was initially greeted with hope and optimism by Palestinians but has since given way to diminished hopes for a negotiated two-state solution . For Palestinians watching today 's U.S.-Israeli dynamic from the sidelines , their disappointment with U.S. President Barack Obama following his speech on Sunday to pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC is palpable . In that speech , Obama reiterated U.S. support for the Jewish state as it faces of concerns about Iran . `` I have heard the comments among Palestinians about whether President Obama is President of Israel or President of the United States ... I found his language during his AIPAC speech as demeaning and dangerous , '' said veteran Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi , before adding that the U.S. President was , in her view , shielding Israel in a personal way . The continued building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank , combined with moribund U.S.-backed peace talks , has resulted in Palestinian political strategy becoming about survival and dependence . `` The Palestinians have lost the initiative , '' says Dr. Mahdi Abdul-Hadia , head of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs ( PASSIA ) , a Palestinian research and analysis center in Jerusalem . `` For the first time Palestinians are depending on external factors [ to make progress ] . '' To that end , they have been following several tracks : the recent Jordanian-sponsored talks with Israel ; reconciliation efforts sponsored by Egypt between the Palestinian political factions Hamas and Fatah ; aid and reconstruction efforts by the Gulf states ; and focusing on Iranian influence on Hamas . Hanan Ashrawi agreed : `` The Palestinians can not deliver freedom on our own and we are not going to go back to the armed struggle suddenly , but at the same time you want to maintain global support for Palestinians and self determination and human rights . '' The Arab Spring has prompted Hamas in Gaza to change course too . It has begun moving tentatively toward a more political form of Islam . `` Hamas is for the first time is saying civil state , democratic state , pluralistic state and this is a revolution in their thinking , '' said Dr. Mahdi . As a result -- and to the extreme annoyance of Israel and the United States -- divisions between Gaza-based Hamas , which is viewed as a terrorist organization by those countries , and the West Bank-based Fatah are being papered over amid attempts to form a unity government . `` It 's difficult to say whether Hamas and Fatah can work together but if we set up a system where pluralism and differences of opinion can be expressed peacefully , they should be able to work together , '' said Dr. Ashrawi . And in a significant break with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad , Hamas in Gaza recently announced support for the Syrian people in their uprising . In doing so , Hamas distanced itself not only from Syria , but from Iran -- Syria 's staunch ally and Hamas 's key financial backer -- and more closely aligned itself with its ideological bedfellows in Egypt , the Muslim Brotherhood -- a group that made major headway in Egyptian elections following the revolution there . Regional changes may have given a new impetus to Hamas and Fatah on the reconciliation front , but as Dr. Ashrawi puts it , recent meetings between the two groups in Egypt show that while they are trying to work together , `` like all political parties self interest comes into play . '' In the absence of any progress towards either statehood or reconciliation , Palestinian objectives have become primarily focused on the short term : buying time to prevent a total breakdown in communication and trying to prevent a breakout of violence among Palestinians -- and with Israelis .
' Arab Awakening ' initially greeted with enthusiasm and optimism by Palestinians . Gaza - based Hamas and West Bank - based Fatah are seeking to form a unity government . Iraq has distanced itself from Syria -- and by extension , Iran -- in wake of Arab Spring .