As noted on Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, here, Kazakhstan joining the Abraham Accords is partly symbolic. Kazakhstan recognized Israel and has maintained diplomatic ties with it since gaining independence from Russia and the Soviet Union in 1991. But this begs the question

Why did the Muslim majority nation recognize and seek ties with Israel in 1991?

Look at the map. Kazakhstan is south of Russia, west of China, and while separated by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, north of Iran and Afghanistan.

Ah-ha. But by this logic a rational person would expect Azerbaijan, India, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan to have ties with Israel. And they do.

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