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Why did Kazakhstan join the Abraham Accords if Israel wasn’t the reason?

Kazakhstan’s decision to join the US-brokered Abraham Accords marks a symbolic victory for Israel, but analysts say the larger motivation for Astana is “currying favour” with Washington and deepening US engagement in minerals-rich Central Asia.

The accords, a series of agreements normalising relations between Israel and several Muslim-majority states, date back to 2020. But Kazakhstan and Israel established diplomatic ties in 1992.

Still, by formally linking itself to the landmark accords, Central Asia’s largest economy appears to be making a calculated bid to attract American investment as it seeks to avoid “excessive dependence” on either China or its former Soviet ruler, Russia, analysts say.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump at the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020. Photo: AFP

“Given how much the Trump administration is determined to expand the scope of the Abraham Accords, this move on Kazakhstan’s part was a relatively easy way to score points with the White House,” Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Washington-based consultancy Gulf State Analytics, told This Week in Asia.

“More Nations are lining up to embrace Peace and Prosperity through my Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote on social media.

The decision was made “solely in the interests of Kazakhstan and is fully consistent with the nature of the republic’s balanced, constructive and peaceful foreign policy”, its foreign ministry said.

Social Media Asia Editor