Peloni: This was a credible and important development, much more honest and strengthening than for a nation such as Syria, with its current Islamist regime, to join the AA alliance system.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday night that Kazakhstan has joined the Abraham Accords. In a post published that night, Trump wrote: “I just held a great call between Prime Minister Netanyahu, of Israel, and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the first Country of my Second Term to join the Abraham Accords, the first of many.”
Trump continued: “This is a major step forward in building bridges around the World. Today, more Nations are lining up to embrace Peace and Prosperity through my Abraham Accords. We will soon announce a Signing Ceremony to make it official, and there many more Countries trying to join this club of STRENGTH. So much more to come in uniting Countries for Stability and Growth – real progress, real results. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
Trump announced Kazakhstan’s accession to the accords during Tokayev’s visit to the White House. The Kazakh president arrived in the United States to participate in a conference organized by Trump and attended by several Central Asian leaders.
“After the elimination of Iran’s nuclear program – many want to join”
Following the post, Trump added: “We are in talks with many countries that wanted to join the Abraham Accords but could not do so because of Iran, which was the bully of the Middle East. Now that Iran’s nuclear capability has been eliminated, many want to join. We are in talks with the traditional potential members of the Abraham Accords.”
A source in the Kazakh government commented on the nation’s decision to join the accords, saying: “Kazakhstan is known in the international community as a nation that supports strengthening global security. Kazakhstan is developing constructive cooperation with many countries around the world, including the State of Israel in the Middle East.”
The source added that joining the Abraham Accords constitutes “a natural and logical step in Kazakhstan’s foreign policy.”
Israel and Kazakhstan have maintained full diplomatic relations since 1992. Israeli President Isaac Herzog was even expected to visit the country in the coming months. However, Witkoff’s announcement has two implications: it creates a more positive narrative toward Israel – at a time when some nations are cutting ties rather than strengthening them – and it serves as “a poke in the eye” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Earlier today, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff announced that another country would join the accords that night, after speaking with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. This comes as the U.S. administration is pushing for a security agreement between Israel and Syria in the near future, ahead of President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s visit to Washington, D.C.
I knew a couple, elderly at the time but now diseased who both told me in private and also in a presentation the entire congregation at the shul where I worshipped, about their experiences spending most of World War II in Kazakhstan.
They said that thei Kazakh neighbors were extremely kind and generous to them when they spent four years of the war in that country. Not even the slightest hint of antisemitism.
They were Polish Jews who somehow managed to flee to Soviet territory when the Germans launched their surprise attack on eastern Poland and the Soviet Union (“Operation Barbarosa”).The Soviet government “assignrf
them to a village in Kazakhstan where they wer put to work in a nearby factory that produced materials for the war effort.
However they were given totally inadequate supplies to enable them to survive in this new, unfamiliar enveronment, They were not paid in money, but “in kind.”
They were assigned as their home a log cabin, without heat, running toilet facilities, etc. And only a small stove to cook their meals.
However, they survived because the Kazakh family living next door absolutely showered them with assistance. They regularly brought them firewood. which made their humble abode warm and cosy even on cold winter nights. They wiuld frequently come over on one pretense or another and bring a huge feast withem, a turkey or lamb dinner :with “all the trimmings.” Sometimes they would bring over fresh vegetables from their garden. They helped them draw water from a nearby well, since it was difficult for themto raise the heavy bucket filled with water themselves.
When the war was over, the Soviet government allowed them to return to Poland. From there they were allowed by the Polish government to leave
for Israel. From Israel they eventually made their way to the United States.
But in spite of building a good life in the United States and bringing up their children here, they said they still missed their Kazakh neighbors.
My memories of this elderly Jewish couple are one reason that I am not surprised that Kazakhstan has decided to join the Abraham Accords.
@Adam So I’ve read. Though the only Kazakh I’ve met personally is a gay, Muslim, violist – a brilliant violist who had brilliant Jewish teachers – who is such a virulent Israelophobe that I and others have unfollowed him.
Well, anyway, here’s a nice man bites dog feel good story if not from Kazakhstan:
<blockquoteThe War Strengthened Israel And Made Peace Possible
Egyptian liberal writer Dalia Ziada argued that the October 7 attack and the ensuing war would have brought any other country to its knees, yet it made Israel stronger, peace more attainable, and the Middle East free once again. She wrote in English: "The resilience of the Israeli people is unbelievable! The October 7 attack and its aftermath could have crushed and devastated any country similar to Israel, but it only made Israel stronger and made peace possible. Deep from my heart, congratulations on the release of the Israeli hostages. We have all been hostages to radicalism for the past two years. Today, we all in the Middle East are free again! Thank you, President Trump… "[16]
https://www.memri.org/reports/arab-liberal-journalists-its-time-eliminate-hamas-its-role-has-ended
Well, sort of good. One of the reasons my father was so eager to leave post-Nazi Hungary after coming home and learning his whole family had been murdered was that his neighbors, that he grew up with, told him that they had been victims, too.
She had to flee Egypt and she’s here now.
https://aish.com/dalia-ziada-the-muslim-activist-who-risked-everything-for-peace/
Which, since it is unresolvable, is therefore a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
AI overview above
😀 Say no more.
I’m reminded of a teacher – himself a lawyer – at the Paralegal Institute where I was a student in the ’80s – who illustrated the meaning of an oxymoron with the example: “Mexican economy.” 😀
Pardon me if I’m underwhelmed.
The ME and the West are moving into opposite directions!
On the one hand, it appears that the Sunnis world want to make peace with Israel while at the same time, on the other hand, it is “conquering Europe (Fr, GB, G, B) and gaining some foothold in the US!!!
Are the Abraham Accords a kind of taqiyya practiced by the Sunnis!!!
Agree with you – maybe there is a silver lining and (1) Courageous Smart Muslim in the US begins a reformation of Islam. I don’t think anyone would see that coming and I am not suggesting it would happen but I can hope it does.
The UAE and Bahrain have no use for the Muslim Brotherhood and Jihad. They choose prosperity over Koranic Dogma. Now Kazakhstan joins. Keep the process moving. The more the merrier.
Good news. but Israel and Azerbaijan have had good and strategically even more important relations for a long time too.
Azerbaijan sits close to Iran, and “rumors” have it that.Azeri airfields might be useful to Israel in the future.
And there’s a large percentage of Iran’s population who are Azeris, with grievances against the mullahs.
Implications here, perhaps.
Is Azerbaijan being courted as the next really valuable member of these Accords?