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Arab officials steered clear of speaking about Palestinian statehood or Israeli policies at the two-day gathering, which wrapped up Wednesday in Bahrain, a contrast with their comments at other international forums.

That was by design. U.S. officials sought to avoid the political issues that have dogged talks on the conflict for years and focus instead on the economic potential should peace be achieved. The Israeli government wasn’t invited, but Israeli businesspeople were. Arab government ministers with political portfolios didn’t attend, and most Arab governments sent either midlevel officials or ministers overseeing fiscal affairs.

The Trump administration hoped to build support from Arab states and investors for a $50 billion program to invest in and around the Palestinian territories over 10 years, before unrolling the much thornier political half of its peace plan.

Images beamed out of the conference showed Gulf Arabs in full national dress chatting casually with the small Israeli business contingent that Bahrain allowed to travel here—encounters that some here said would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.

Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser leading the peace effort, pointed to the warming ties between Gulf states and Israel, which see Iran as a common threat and cooperate on security matters.

“It’ll be very hard for people to go back to looking at this conflict through the traditional lens,” Mr. Kushner said.

Achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace—what President Trump has called the “ultimate deal”—remains a far-off goal. No one at the conference spoke of how the Israelis and Palestinians could overcome their political differences. No Israeli or Palestinian government officials attended.

The Palestinian leadership has rejected the peace plan out of hand and has refused to speak with the Trump administration since the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017, accusing it of pro-Israel bias. Israeli politicians, gearing up for another election in September, barely mention finding peace with the Palestinians, which has become a less popular notion among Israelis.

Mr. Kushner has yet to reveal how he plans to bridge Israeli-Palestinian differences on borders, security, refugees and Jerusalem that have bedeviled several U.S. administrations. The political half of the plan has no release date and has been repeatedly delayed, most recently because of unexpected Israeli elections in September.

Jason Greenblatt, a senior Trump administration official involved in the effort, told a small group of journalists Wednesday that the administration is avoiding the phrase two-state solution.

“We find that it is a slogan from the past,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that it isn’t workable but it means different things to different people. Our political plan will get to what we think could work with both sides.”

Mr. Greenblatt expressed confidence that Arab countries and investors would deliver billions in investments pledges if they become convinced the political part of the plan will work out.

“If we’re not going to get political traction on the political aspect of the deal, I’m not sure we would take the time to try to get pledges.”

Gulf leaders say they remain concerned about the Palestinian cause.

Saudi Arabia sent its finance minister, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, and a close adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the conference, in a show of support for the administration’s peace plan. But it also released a statement before the gathering reiterating its support for establishing a Palestinian state along the borders before the 1967 Six Day War, with East Jerusalem as its capital—terms Israel hasn’t accepted. Mr. Jadaan said Saudi Arabia would support what the Palestinians want.

Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati political scientist speaking before the conference, said the warming ties between Israel and the Gulf nations have been exaggerated and are mostly public-relations exercises at this point.

“There is a great deal of wishful thinking going on,” he said. “Israel remains the constant enemy until there is peace, but the constant enemy has been overtaken by the instant enemy of Iran.”

Others noted the difficulty in executing a peace plan in the way Mr. Kushner has presented it: An economic plan first, followed by the harder choices of the political settlement.

Mohammed Al-Sheikh, a close adviser to Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed, recalled efforts to drum up investment in Gaza and the West Bank after the Oslo Accords were signed in the 1990s. Those economic efforts marshaled enthusiasm around a vision for a political peace, which drummed up billions in investment but ultimately failed to create a sustainable economy in Gaza and the West Bank absent a larger agreement.

“Peace is essential. Back then it was just the hope of peace that got them actually excited and moving,” Mr. Sheikh said. “I witnessed first hand what can be done and what cannot be done.”

—Michael Amon contributed to this article.

Write to Felicia Schwartz at Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.co