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- Gifts from the South: Israel has decided to strengthen its presence in the Caspian region
Gifts from the South: Israel has decided to strengthen its presence in the Caspian region
After joining the Abraham Agreements, Kazakhstan is going through a new stage in relations with Israel. The day before, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar flew to Astana for talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The parties agreed to introduce visa-free travel and expand economic partnership. The interests of the two states also coincide in matters of high technology and regional security. Before that, Saar visited another Caspian country, Azerbaijan. The expansion of Israeli influence in the region is described in the Izvestia article.
Visa-free regime
"Relations between our countries are strong. They are based on a common history and democratic values. My visit is an expression of our desire to further strengthen them in order to realize their full potential," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said during his first visit to Astana since 2010.
He held talks with his Kazakh counterpart Yermek Kosherbayev and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. As a result, the parties signed a number of bilateral documents, including memoranda of understanding on cooperation in the field of public diplomacy and intentions to abolish the visa regime between the countries.
Currently, citizens of Kazakhstan need a visa to travel to Israel. According to the Israeli minister, West Jerusalem and Astana plan to expand their economic partnership in many areas.
"We want to invest in the president's concept and share our experience with Kazakhstan," he explained. Saar was accompanied on the trip by 30 representatives of various economic organizations from various industries, including agriculture, healthcare, cybersecurity and many others.
"The key areas in which we want to expand our partnership are water resources, innovation, and food security," the Israeli foreign minister said.
His Kazakh counterpart Kosherbayev added that in 2025, the trade turnover between the countries amounted to $162 million. At the same time, over the past 20 years, about $1.5 billion of investments from Israel have been attracted to the economy of Kazakhstan.
From Astana to Baku
The Israeli Foreign Minister flew to Kazakhstan from Azerbaijan, where the agenda was also rich and strategically important. During the visit, Saar stressed the determination of both countries to take the bilateral partnership to a new level.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar
According to him, the parties are striving not only "to increase the volume of mutual investments, but also to deepen direct contacts between people."
In his speech, the Israeli Foreign Minister stressed that the two countries have become "fundamental strongholds of stability in their regions, relying on dynamically developing national economies." He highlighted the 50% increase in trade turnover between the two countries.
This visit of the Minister to the Caspian region demonstrates Israel's plans to expand its diplomatic presence in the region. Astana's accession to the "Abraham Agreements" opened the way for this. West Jerusalem is actively trying to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties with Kazakhstan.
At the same time, the Israeli authorities continue to establish a strategic partnership with Baku. Azerbaijan acts as an important transit corridor to Central Asia, and also plays a role in maintaining a balance of power in relations with Tehran.
Kamran Hasanov, Doctor of Political Science at the University of Salzburg, noted that Kazakhstan was joined to the "Abraham Agreements" by US President Donald Trump.
— This businesslike approach allowed Trump to achieve deals in the Persian Gulf, and now he has repeated his success in Central Asia. Trump is trying to distance himself from geopolitics, but it is always there when it comes to minerals and transportation routes and regions geographically close to Russia and China. From the first, Trump continues the geopolitical confrontation, with China — the economic one, the political scientist believes.
According to Alexander Knyazev, an orientalist and a leading researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies, close cooperation with Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan allows Israel to build a single belt of strategic influence from Central Asia to the Caspian Sea.
The expert notes in his Telegram channel that the Israeli analytical center BESA, given this connecting role, recommends approaching work in these regions as a single direction of foreign policy. According to him, the key initiative could be the creation of an institutionalized "Central Asian six" (Azerbaijan plus the five countries of the region), a special platform for regular multilateral dialogue and cooperation with Israel.
Moscow sees everything
Elena Panina, Director of the RUSSTRAT Institute of International Political and Economic Strategies, notes that in the West Kazakhstan's accession to the "Abraham Agreements" is characterized as strategic.
"Joseph Hammond, who cooperates with the Atlantic Council and the National Endowment for Democracy (both organizations are considered undesirable in the Russian Federation) and a number of other specific American centers, writes in an article for The National Interest that Kazakhstan is taking the first step among the former Soviet republics, and Azerbaijan is considering joining the Abraham Accords <...> At the same time, Azerbaijan He is already one of Israel's closest friends in the Muslim world," the expert quotes the American author as saying.
According to the political scientist, the plan of the United States and Israel takes the form of a belt of control from the Persian Gulf and Transcaucasia to Uzbekistan.
"This obviously cuts Russia off from a significant part of the Global South, puts most overland transit flows from China under control, creates threats for Moscow from the south, and for Beijing from the west. And the United States and Israel, moreover, plan to make good money on all this," the expert emphasizes.
The analyst added that the strategy of the Russian geopolitical rivals is clear. As well as the likely reaction of the Russian authorities.
"Given the diplomatic activity of the Russian leadership, there is clearly an understanding of the importance of the Central Asian direction in Moscow, which is encouraging," Panina summed up.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
