In Sunni eyes, the Shia not only dominate the oil-rich areas of Iran, Iraq, and the eastern region of Saudi Arabia, but are – through the actions of Hezbollah – attempting to usurp the role of “protector” of the central dream of all Arabs, the Palestinian cause. It is because the Saudi royal family derives its legitimacy from a strict form of Sunni Islam and doubts the loyalty of its Shia population that the Kingdom has turned on Hezbollah.