The Japan Times - Kazakhstan to join Abraham Accords as Trump pushes Mideast peace

The central Asian republic has had diplomatic ties with Israel for decades, unlike the four Arab states that normalized relations with Israel under the original accords signed in Trump's first term.

But with Trump aiming to shore up his fragile Gaza ceasefire deal, Washington is pushing to get as much support as possible behind a wider peace initiative.

The announcement that Kazakhstan will join is expected to come when Trump hosts Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the leaders of the other four central Asian republics at the White House later Thursday, a US official said.

Kazakhstan said Thursday it was "natural and logical" for it to join.

"Our anticipated accession to the Abraham Accords represents a natural and logical continuation of Kazakhstan's foreign policy course -- grounded in dialogue, mutual respect, and regional stability," the country's government said in a statement.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said earlier that a new country would join the accords, sparking initial speculation -- later quashed -- that it could be the elusive prize of Saudi Arabia.

"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.

Kazkahstan will be the first country to join since the original Abraham Accords in 2020, when the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalized ties with Israel.

- 'Lot of people joining' -

Saudi Arabia had been in talks with the United States on also normalizing ties with Israel, in what would be a historic milestone as the kingdom is home to Islam's two holiest sites.

But the Gulf kingdom stepped back after the Gaza war broke out following Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023.

Saudi Arabia has long insisted it cannot normalize ties without progress toward an independent Palestinian state, a prospect long opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump said at the same forum in Miami on Wednesday that "we have a lot of people joining now the Abraham Accords and hopefully we are going to get Saudi Arabia very soon."

He then added jokingly to an audience which included the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, "But I'm not saying that. I'm not."

The US-brokered Gaza deal has been in place since October 10 but remains shaky, with Israel accusing Hamas of dragging its feet in returning the bodies of hostages.

Israel has also launched a number of attacks despite the truce, claiming that its forces have come under attack, and says Hamas is not doing enough to give up its weapons.

Witkoff, one of the key negotiators, said on Thursday he was still hopeful it could hold, adding that they were "right in the middle of standing up a decommissioning process of weapons" by Hamas.

Hamas insisted this process would depend on the deployment of an international security force, which would be greenlighted under a draft UN Security Council resolution presented by the United States this week, Witkoff said.

K.Abe--JT