New Country to Join Abraham Accords: US Envoy
The United States plans to announce that a new nation will join the Abraham Accords, as stated by President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The announcement is expected to be made later on November 6.
“I'm flying back to Washington tonight because we're going to announce, tonight, another country coming into the Abraham Accords,”
Witkoff said during the America Business Forum in Miami. When asked which country it would be, he replied:
“I don't know if it's out yet.”
According to a report from Axios, the country in question is Kazakhstan — a Central Asian republic that has maintained diplomatic relations with Israel for many years. The report suggested that Kazakhstan’s participation aims to help reinvigorate
the accords. Kazakhstan’s president is among five Central Asian leaders scheduled to meet President Trump at the White House in November.
The Abraham Accords, initiated during Trump’s first term, saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco normalize relations with Israel in 2020. Saudi Arabia had also held talks with the United States about joining, which would have represented a major diplomatic milestone, given its role as custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites.
However, those discussions were paused after the Gaza conflict erupted following Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly emphasized that normalization cannot proceed without tangible progress toward establishing an independent Palestinian state, a goal opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Author’s Summary
Washington is preparing to announce Kazakhstan’s expected entry into the Abraham Accords, marking a renewed effort to expand regional normalization with Israel under President Trump’s leadership.