Kazakhstan has announced that it will join the Abraham Accords, the US-brokered agreement that normalised relations between Israel and several Arab states. The move was confirmed by US President Donald Trump, who said on Thursday that Kazakhstan would become the first country of his second term to enter the agreement. Though Kazakhstan already maintains full diplomatic relations with Israel, the decision carries symbolic and political weight as the Accords expand into new territory.
“I just held a great call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Kazakhstan is the first country of my second term to join the Abraham Accords, the first of many.”
For Kazakhstan, a Muslim-majority nation that established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992, joining the Accords is largely a symbolic gesture rather than a groundbreaking diplomatic shift. In an interview before travelling to Washington for the C5+1 summit with other Central Asian leaders, President Tokayev emphasised the economic rationale behind the move. “This means that we will get certain dividends from the point of view of economic cooperation,” he said. “We always had good relations with Israel and with Middle Eastern countries. This is a logical continuation of our policies, my policies.”
The Abraham Accords were first introduced in 2020 during Donald Trump’s first term as part of a broader Middle East peace initiative. The agreements established diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab states, beginning with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, later joined by Sudan and Morocco. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, played a central role in negotiating the original accords. The framework was built on the vision of extending peace and cooperation among Abrahamic faith nations while strengthening US influence in the Middle East.
Kazakhstan’s accession marks the first time a Central Asian state has joined the Accords. The announcement coincided with the C5+1 summit in Washington, where the US hosted leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The summit was the first joint meeting between Central Asian heads of state and an American president in the US capital. For the region’s governments, it represented an opportunity to seek greater US investment and technological cooperation as a counterbalance to the growing influence of Russia and China.
Although Kazakhstan’s move does not involve anything drastic, since diplomatic ties with Israel already exist, the decision has broader political significance. Analysts see it as a calculated step to strengthen relations with the United States and possibly to appeal directly to Donald Trump, who remains a key political figure. By joining the Accords, Kazakhstan signals its willingness to align more closely with Western-led initiatives and participate in a diplomatic framework that has become a centrepiece of US engagement in the broader Middle East.
Trump praised Kazakhstan’s decision as a “major step forward in building bridges across the world,” framing it as evidence of continued momentum for the peace process he initiated in his first term. He added that the agreement represents “a powerful symbol of unity and cooperation that transcends borders.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who joined Trump at the summit, said the initiative would move beyond diplomacy to create “a partnership that brings special and unique economic development on all sorts of issues.”
Kazakhstan’s participation also expands the geopolitical reach of the Accords into a region of growing strategic importance. Other Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, too, could follow suit as they strive to reduce dependence on Moscow and Tehran.
Kazakhstan’s government has framed its participation as a “natural and logical continuation” of its balanced foreign policy, which prioritises dialogue, mutual respect and regional stability. While the decision may not produce immediate diplomatic shifts, it aligns with Tokayev’s long-term goal of diversifying Kazakhstan’s international partnerships. Areas of potential cooperation between Israel and Kazakhstan include trade, defence, cybersecurity, energy, food technology, health, education, and tourism.
For Trump, Kazakhstan’s entry represents an early foreign policy achievement in his second term. For Kazakhstan, it is a low-cost yet high-visibility move that reinforces its status as a bridge between East and West, between the Islamic world and the West, and between old alliances and new opportunities. It offers Israel a respite from the mounting global criticism it faced during the Gaza war. From a geostrategic perspective, it gives the US and Israel a strategic foothold in a region historically dominated by Russia and Iran.