Kazakhstan joins Abraham Accords to upgrade arms deals

The Trump administration’s announcement that Kazakhstan is joining the Abraham Accords was made with great fanfare, even though the former Soviet republic has had diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992. This is because the move is based on clear US interests and upgrading Kazakhstan’s status, while Israeli interests play a secondary role.

Security relations between Israel and Kazakhstan began in 2001. Since then, the Kazakhs have procured a range of weapons from Israel’s defense industries, including rocket systems and drones from Elbit, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and Rafael. The culmination of cooperation was in 2007-2009, under first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

However, the ability of Israeli defense manufacturers to sell their wares in Kazakhstan has been limited, even though the Asia-Pacific region purchased 48% of Israel’s defense exports in 2023 and 23% in 2024. The reason for this is Kazakhstan’s classification level, which is affected by the security agreement between the countries, which the Kazakhs are interested in upgrading.

Oil, uranium and rare elements: Why everyone is interested in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is one of the world’s leading producers of gold, uranium, and rare elements – strategic resources that attract many powers to invest and strengthen ties with the country.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev replaced Nazarbayev in 2019 and has been leading a completely different policy. Tokayev decided to take advantage of the country’s strategic assets, such as its large oil and gas resources, as well as its location and vast territory (the country is the tenth largest in geographical size in the world), in order to flirt with countries, including China and Turkey. The US, of course, is trying to keep the Kazakhs away from this direction.

Turkish pride

Like the US and Israel, China is also interested in strengthening ties with Kazakhstan, and this time because of its territory – which Beijing uses to transport goods by train west to Europe. Oil is not part of the story: Kazakhstan is the source of only about 3% of Chinese oil imports, while Iran accounts for about 13%.

The connection to Turkey stems from Tokayev’s desire to stress Kazakh nationalism and reduce Russian influence. Kazakhs are a Turkic people, similar to Azeris, Uzbeks, and Kyrgyz, and therefore this is a way to enhance the connection to local heritage. This is a win-win situation on the Kazakh-Turkish level, since it also aligns with the interests of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The latter not only sees himself as the successor to the Ottoman Empire and as the leader of the Muslim world, but also as the leader of the Turkic world. Therefore, Ankara has clearly refrained from criticizing Kazakhstan joining the Abraham Accords.

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This is a very different step from the establishment of new full diplomatic relations between the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco and Israel, but it is still contrary to Erdogan’s interests – and not only in the context of the Middle East and Gaza. Like all Turkic countries, Kazakhstan is a clear marketing target for Ankara’s defense industries, and its tightening of security ties with Israel could hurt their market share.

One country that was taken by surprise by the announcement of Kazakhstan joining the Abraham Accords was its Caspian Sea neighbor, Azerbaijan, which was confident that it would be the first country in the Eurasian region to join the Abraham Accords. Baku purchases many advanced weapons from both Israel and Turkey and wants to enjoy a “bridge” to American defense industries.

Jihadists on the border

A senior defense industry official notes that in the wake of the war, which has seen Israeli officials excluded from defense exhibitions and arms deals canceled, including in Spain, Israel has begun focusing efforts on new markets. Countries like Kazakhstan hold great potential, partly due to their growing security needs. For example, the distance between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan is only about 500 kilometers and it is about 100 kilometers from Tajikistan. These two countries serve as a focus for jihadist activity, a fact that makes Kazakhstan a sensitive security target.

Another strategic site in Kazakhstan, known to Israel, is the Baikonur Cosmodrome spaceport in the south of the country. In the past, Israel has used the facility to launch satellites into space, including the Amos 4 satellite in 2013. In recent years, Israel has switched to launching its satellites from the US, mainly through Elon Musk’s SpaceX, – as happened last July with the launch of the Dror 1 communications satellite using the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. However, a source familiar with the details tells Globes: “The cost of launching from Baikonur is significantly lower than launching from the US – sometimes up to half or even a third of the price.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on November 10, 2025.

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