Kazakhstan Formally Joins Abraham Accords, Adding to Israel’s Normalization Grouping

The Abraham Accords are a series of bilateral agreements brokered by the United States with the aim of normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab countries. The first agreements were signed on September 15, 2020, between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain. Israel and Sudan agreed to normalize relations in October 2020, but the formal signing, originally expected in Washington in 2023, was delayed by Sudan’s domestic turmoil and the ongoing war in Gaza. In December 2020, Israel and Morocco established official diplomatic ties. Kazakhstan formally joined the grouping on November 6, 2025, though it has had normalized relations with Israel since the 1990s.

The accords followed what the source describes as an “outside-in” approach, which focused on bilateral diplomatic, trade, and security relations with Arab states not directly party to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a result, the agreements did not significantly address the Palestinian issue, which had been considered a prerequisite to formal relations with Israel. Critics argued that the accords undermined the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which had linked Arab recognition of Israel to a two-state solution and a just resolution for the Palestinians.

The path to the UAE agreement began in June 2020. According to the source, Emirati Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledges to annex parts of the West Bank would jeopardize prospects for diplomatic relations with Arab states, including the UAE. Otaiba communicated to the White House that the UAE would agree to normalization if Israel formally suspended its annexation plans. The deal was finalized during a three-way conference call between President Donald Trump, Netanyahu, and then-Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and was announced on August 13, 2020. Bahrain’s agreement was concluded on September 11, 2020, during a call between Trump, Netanyahu, and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and signed four days later.

Morocco agreed to normalize relations in return for US recognition of its disputed claims over Western Sahara. The Trump administration pledged to open a US consulate in Dakhla, a initiative that stalled under President Joe Biden. The Israel-Morocco agreement was signed on December 22, 2020. Direct flights began in July 2021, and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid visited Rabat and Casablanca a month later. The two countries also signed a cybersecurity cooperation agreement. Sudan’s path was different. On October 23, 2020, Khartoum declared its intention to normalize relations after the US agreed to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and Israel promised an aid and investment package. Sudan signed an Abraham Accords Declaration on January 6, 2021, but the bilateral agreement with Israel was never signed. The source reports that the move was widely unpopular in Sudan, and that after the overthrow of the Sudanese government in October 2021 and the civil war that began in April 2023, progress came to a halt.

The second Trump administration has pushed to expand the accords beyond their original signatories, though progress on additional Arab states faltered while Israel maintained its military operations in Gaza and beyond. US Special Envoy Steven Witkoff traveled to Baku in March 2025 to encourage Azerbaijan to join, as well as to persuade post-Soviet Central Asian governments to sign on. The source notes these accessions would be largely symbolic, since each former Soviet republic had recognized Israel soon after independence. On November 6, during the visit of Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to the White House, Trump announced that Kazakhstan was formally joining. Astana and Washington signed 29 deals reportedly worth $17 billion during the visit. No details had initially emerged on how the accession might change Kazakhstan’s existing relationship with Israel.

Congressional action has also supported the accords. In January 2022, a bipartisan group of US representatives founded the House Abraham Accords Caucus, which was relaunched in February 2025. The US Senate counterpart pushed for several measures, including the 2021 Israel Relations Normalization Act, the 2022 DEFEND Act on integrated air defense, and the 2023 MARITIME Act on maritime domain awareness, along with several National Defense Authorization Act provisions. The source states that Washington hoped the accords would serve core US interests, including support for partners, regional stability, freedom of navigation, counterterrorism, and the containment of Iran. Beyond those goals, the accords were envisioned as a means of limiting China’s economic and diplomatic inroads in the Middle East, offering a regional counterbalance to China’s Belt and Road Initiative through trade, mutual investment, and people-to-people exchange.

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