Kazakhstan will join the Abraham Accords with Israel in symbolic move to boost the Trump initiative

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Kazakhstan will 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, three U.S. officials said Thursday.

The move 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.

Trump, a Republican, would announce the step at a summit he is hosting later Thursday with the leaders of the five Central Asian nations, including Kazakhstan, said the U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement.

Despite their previous long-standing ties, the 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 the many countries were now willing to “move toward the circle of peace” that it had created.

The 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 the White House summit between Trump and the five 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.