I guess it's because you are heading East. So the route is pretty much in that direction anyway. With TLV and AMM you actually need to head east before heading West. I tried AMM-CAI-DOH-AUH-JFK and similar options and was told over MPM (two awards). AMM-DOH-AUH-JFK was okay. But seemed to max out there. Tacking on TLV to same route was also okay.