washington dc19 minutes ago
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Another Muslim country is about to join the Abraham Accords with Israel. US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced Kazakhstan’s joining this agreement. The purpose of this agreement is to normalize relations between Israel and Muslim countries.
Trump said that he has spoken on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kazakhstan President Kassym Jomart Tokayev. He said,
We will announce the date of the signing ceremony soon. Many more countries also wish to join this agreement.
The Abraham Accords were initiated in 2020 during Trump’s previous term. Then, on Trump’s initiative, UAE and Bahrain established relations with Israel. In the same year, Morocco also joined this agreement.
Trump claims that he wants to make this agreement bigger during his tenure.
What is the Abraham Accords?
Under the Abraham Agreement, in 2020, Israel and some Arab countries decided to officially establish friendly relations. Its name comes from Abraham, who is considered a prophet in the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The countries associated with this agreement, UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, had agreed to open embassies in Israel, do business, and increase military and technical partnership.
Relations between Israel and Arab countries have been tense due to the Palestine dispute. However, this agreement for the first time gave way to many Muslim countries to establish open relations with Israel.
Many Muslim countries and Palestine supporters consider this agreement an injustice to Palestine. These countries say that relations with Israel should be normalized only when Palestine gets its rights.
On Thursday, Trump met with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan at the White House. Trump said,
Many of these countries will join the Abraham Accords, an announcement will be made soon.
America is trying to increase its influence in Central Asia. Russia and China already have a strong presence here. In this respect this meeting was very important.
Abraham agreement stuck after Gaza war
The war that started between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has had a direct impact on the Abraham Accords. This agreement was progressing rapidly since 2020. There was talk of joining several new Muslim countries, but the war stalled the entire process.
Saudi Arabia was the closest to joining the agreement. Trump is repeatedly saying that Saudi Arabia can also join soon after the ceasefire is implemented in Gaza. But Saudi Arabia has not given any such indication till now.
He has clearly said that,
There will be no agreement without paving the way for a homeland for the Palestinians.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is scheduled to visit the White House on November 18. Due to Saudi’s halt, other countries are also at a standstill. There is immense anger against Israel in Muslim countries after the destruction and death of a large number of people in Gaza.
In such an environment, no country wants to openly announce normalization of relations with Israel. The meetings and negotiations that were going on behind the scenes came to a halt due to the war.
Already diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Israel
The government of Kazakhstan issued a statement saying that talks regarding this decision are in the final stage. The statement said that,
Joining the Abraham Accords is a natural extension of our foreign policy. It is based on dialogue, mutual respect and regional stability.
Kazakhstan already has full diplomatic and economic relations with Israel. Therefore this decision is being considered as just a formality.
The US hopes that with Kazakhstan’s inclusion, the Abraham Agreement will gain momentum again, as this expansion was stalled for the last several months due to the Gaza war.
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