New Country to Join Abraham Accords, US Envoy Announces
The United States is expected to announce on November 6 that a new country will join the Abraham Accords, a diplomatic agreement where several nations have normalized relations with Israel, according to President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
"I'm flying back to Washington tonight because we're going to announce, tonight, another country coming into the Abraham Accords," Witkoff said at the America Business Forum in Miami.
When asked which country is joining, Witkoff responded to Fox News' Bret Baier, "I don't know if it's out yet."
The news outlet Axios reported that the new member is Kazakhstan, a Central Asian republic that has maintained diplomatic ties with Israel for decades. Kazakhstan is seen as joining to help "reinvigorate" the accords. The Kazakh president is among five Central Asian leaders scheduled to meet President Trump at the White House in November.
Background on the Abraham Accords
During President Trump's first term, the Abraham Accords facilitated normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco in 2020. Saudi Arabia had engaged in talks with the US on joining the accords, a significant development given its status as home to Islam's two holiest sites.
However, Saudi Arabia paused normalization efforts after the outbreak of war in Gaza following Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023. The kingdom has emphasized that it will not normalize ties without progress toward Palestinian statehood, a position opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Saudi Arabia has long insisted it cannot normalize ties without progress toward an independent Palestinian state," the report noted.
These developments highlight ongoing geopolitical shifts and challenges in the Middle East peace process.
Author's summary: The Abraham Accords are about to expand with Kazakhstan joining, signaling renewed diplomacy despite setbacks involving Saudi Arabia and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.