Kazakhstan has recognized the state of Israel for almost its entire existence as an independent country, and it has always had good relations with the Jewish State. Israeli President Shimon Peres visited in 2009 and Prime Minister Netanhayu visited in 2016. Kazakhstan is a major oil supplier for Israel (roughly 25% of all oil in Israel originates in Kazakhstan), which is critical for Israel as many oil producing nations do not recognize the country. So Kazakhstani-Israeli economic ties are long-standing and well-established.
Which is why I had to laugh when I read that Trump has proudly announced that Kazakhstan is joining the Abraham Accords. The Abraham Accords were an agreement by several countries who did not formally recognize Israel to have full diplomatic relations with the state. Initially that meant that the UAE and Bahrain officially recognized Israel (both had had informal back-door relations but had never opened embassies in each other's countries), and it was later extended to Morocco (which also had informal relations) and, sort of, Sudan. After first-term Trump announced the inclusion of Sudan, Sudan's leaders immediately seemed to walk back the agreement. Sudan never ratified the accord before the government collapsed and it fell into a brutal civil war that is still raging today.
Anyway, the entire point of the Abraham Accords is that it is an agreement of countries that did not have diplomatic relations with Israel to open diplomatic relations with it. Kazakhstan, as a country that already had diplomatic as well as deep commercial relations with Israel is not a country that should be eligible to join that agreement because there is no point to agree to something that it is already doing.
It looks to me like Kazakhstani President Tokayev is taking advantage of the fact that Trump does not know a goddamn thing about Kazakhstan. Tokayev agreed to make a meaningless announcement, so Trump could think he was one step closer to his coveted Nobel Peace Prize. It also looks like Tokayev is offering a mineral deal with the U.S. on top of that. If there's one thing that Central Asia leaders are adept at, it is knowing how to flatter and pay off corrupt leaders to get what they want.
