When U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Kazakhstan had joined the Abraham Accords — becoming, in his words, “the first new country” to normalise relations with Israel during his second term — the statement quickly made headlines. But within hours, experts and observers were questioning whether this was a diplomatic breakthrough or simply a recycled political stunt dressed as news.
Astana’s own government confirmed the announcement — yet the story hides an obvious truth: Kazakhstan’s relations with Israel are not new. In fact, they have been active, structured, and openly cooperative since 1992.
A Decades-Old Relationship Disguised as “Breaking News”
Trump’s claim of “new normalisation” is misleading. Kazakhstan and Israel established full diplomatic relations in August 1992, just months after Kazakhstan’s independence. Embassies were opened in both capitals, and official visits have taken place regularly ever since.
By 1996, Kazakhstan’s embassy had opened in Tel Aviv, while Israel’s mission in Astana had already been functioning for years. The two sides have since exchanged high-level visits, signed dozens of bilateral agreements, and maintained a steady partnership across political, economic, military, and scientific domains.
In other words, normalisation happened three decades ago — long before Trump’s announcement.
Early Political and Economic Ties
The two countries’ cooperation began immediately after diplomatic recognition. By 2004, an Israeli–Kazakh Chamber of Commerce and Industry was established in Israel to strengthen trade and economic collaboration.
Their relationship deepened over time, expanding from agriculture and water technology to energy, infrastructure, and defence. Among the most notable developments was a 2014 military cooperation agreement, highlighting Astana’s early strategic engagement with Israel.
Kazakhstan sought Israeli expertise in high-tech and agriculture, while Israel pursued access to Kazakhstan’s vast energy resources. According to Israeli figures, about 25% of Israel’s oil imports come from Kazakhstan, making it one of Tel Aviv’s key suppliers in the region.
Mutual Visits: A Pattern of Deep Cooperation
The exchange of official visits further disproves the idea of “new normalisation.”
Kazakhstan’s former president Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Israel officially in 1995 and 2000, and again in 2013 for a working visit.
On the Israeli side, President Shimon Peres visited Kazakhstan in 2009 and again in 2015, followed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2016.
Government archives from Astana list a long line of bilateral visits across ministries — including defence, education, agriculture, and technology — between 1992 and 2019.
Israeli delegations, in turn, visited Kazakhstan in nearly every decade, representing ministries of foreign affairs, energy, science, housing, and even culture and environment. The intensity of such exchanges makes Trump’s claim appear even more detached from reality.
Exceptional Economic Cooperation
A joint Kazakh–Israeli Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation was formed in 1992. Since then, bilateral trade has grown steadily.
By 2024, Kazakh–Israeli trade volume reached roughly $236 million, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of National Economy. Israeli companies have implemented major projects in Kazakhstan — from desalination plants and irrigation systems to livestock and agribusiness ventures.
About 150 joint companies operate today across diverse industries: construction, oil and gas, metals, communications, real estate, pharmaceuticals, finance, tourism, education, and scientific research.
According to Kazakhstan’s National Bank, Israel’s cumulative direct investment in the country reached $53.7 million by 2024. These figures show not a new partnership, but a mature and multifaceted one.
Cultural and Scientific Collaboration
Beyond politics and trade, the two nations maintain long-standing cultural and scientific exchanges.
Over the years, more than 1,000 Kazakh doctors and nurses have been trained in Israeli medical centres under bilateral cooperation programmes. Israeli medical experts conduct around 30 workshops annually in Kazakhstan, according to the Kazakh embassy in Tel Aviv.
Since 1993, with support from Israel’s international cooperation agency MASHAV, over 300 Kazakh specialists have trained in Israel in fields including medicine, journalism, education technology, agriculture, small business management, and water resource development.
Conclusion: A Recycled Story, Not a New Deal
The evidence is clear: Kazakhstan’s ties with Israel are three decades old. What Trump announced as a “historic normalisation” is, in truth, an exercise in political showmanship — a media fabrication aimed at projecting diplomatic achievement where none exists.
Kazakhstan’s engagement with Israel has long included political, economic, military, scientific, and cultural cooperation. Calling it “new normalisation” simply rewrites history for the sake of a headline.
For observers across the Muslim world, the real story lies not in Trump’s words but in how Western narratives often repackage old alliances as breakthroughs — erasing the long record of regional realities to manufacture an illusion of progress under American mediation.
The facts, however, remain: Astana normalised with Tel Aviv more than thirty years ago.
