WASHINGTON — Kazakhstan is set to join the Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab and Muslim majority countries in a symbolic move aimed at boosting the initiative that was a hallmark of President Donald Trump's first administration.
The action, announced Thursday, is largely symbolic as Kazakhstan has had diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992 and is much farther geographically from Israel than the other Abraham Accord nations — Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates.
Those countries agreed to normalize relations with Israel as a result of joining the accords, something Kazakhstan did shortly after gaining independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The move was first confirmed to The Associated Press by three U.S. officials who insisted on anonymity to detail plans that hadn't yet been made public. Hours later, Trump posted on his social media site that he'd had "a great call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of Israel, and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, of Kazakhstan" and that Kazakhstan is the "first Country of my Second Term to join the Abraham Accords, the first of many."
Trump called Kazakhstan joining "a major step forward in building bridges across the World" and said "more Nations are lining up to embrace Peace and Prosperity through my Abraham Accords."
A signing ceremony would soon make it official, Trump, and "there are many more Countries trying to join this club of STRENGTH."
"So much more to come in uniting Countries for Stability and Growth — Real progress, real results," Trump wrote. "BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!"
Trump, a Republican, made the announcement shortly before the start of a summit he hosted Thursday evening with the leaders of the five Central Asian nations, including Kazakhstan.
Despite their previous long-standing ties, the U.S. officials said Kazakhstan's participation in the Abraham Accords with Israel was important as it would enhance their bilateral trade and cooperation and signaled that Israel is becoming less isolated internationally, notably after massive criticism and protests over its conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza.
One official maintained that Trump's nascent peace plan for Gaza had "completely changed the paradigm" and that many countries were now willing to "move toward the circle of peace" that it had created.
That official said specific areas of enhanced Israeli-Kazakh cooperation would include defense, cybersecurity, energy and food technology, although all of those have been subjects of previous bilateral agreements dating back to the mid-1990s.
Ahead of Thursday night's summit between Trump and the Central Asian leaders, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a working breakfast with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, although the State Department made no mention of anything related to Israel.
Rubio and Tokayev "discussed expanding opportunities for commercial trade and investment as well as increased cooperation with Kazakhstan in energy, technology, and infrastructure," the department said in a statement.
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