Israel–Kazakhstan Relations

Trade, agriculture, intelligence, and defense have been central components of the Israeli–Kazakh partnership, supported by embassies in both countries and a bilateral chamber of commerce established in 2004.[4] Practical cooperation has also encompassed medicine, biotechnology, industry, higher education, telecommunications, environmental protection, security systems, space research, and investment.[1] These fields connect Israeli scientific and technical capabilities with Kazakh demand for development expertise and commercial partnerships.[1]

The relationship operates through several bilateral institutions, including the Israel–Kazakhstan Parliamentary Friendship League, the Kazakh–Israeli Joint Governmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, the Club of the Israeli Friends of Kazakhstan, and the Israel–Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.[1] Regular foreign-ministry cooperation and visits by senior officials have addressed subjects ranging from agriculture to defense.[2]

The partnership also includes religious and people-to-people contacts: Israeli religious leaders have participated in the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, hosted in Astana since 2003.[5] Medical travel, professional training, and periodic direct aviation links have provided additional connections alongside formal diplomacy.[1]

Israel recognized Kazakhstan’s independence in December 1991, and full diplomatic relations were established on April 10, 1992, following bilateral consultations and earlier lower-profile contacts.[1] Israel opened an embassy in Kazakhstan’s then-capital, Alma-Ata, in 1992 and subsequently relocated it to Astana.[1][4] Kazakhstan opened its embassy in Tel Aviv in May 1996, becoming the first Central Asian republic to establish an embassy in Israel.[1]

Kazakh Prime Minister Sergei Tereshchenko visited Israel in September 1992, meeting Israel’s prime minister, president, foreign minister, and former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir.[1] Early senior exchanges also included a visit to Kazakhstan by Israeli President Chaim Herzog in 1993.[1] Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Israel repeatedly, including in 1995, 2000, and 2013; his April 2000 official delegation was associated with strengthening economic and security cooperation.[1][6]

Shimon Peres visited Kazakhstan in several official capacities between 1995 and 2009, including as Israeli president in June 2009.[1] Senior delegations, including defense officials, also maintained contacts outside the public spotlight.[1] In 2006, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Karim Masimov described Kazakhstan as “a moderate Muslim state which is interested in being involved in the Middle East,” while discussing investment and proposed regional economic projects with Peres.[7]

Benjamin Netanyahu became the first sitting Israeli prime minister to visit Kazakhstan in December 2016.[6] He met Nazarbayev during the visit.[6] At a joint press conference, Netanyahu asked Nazarbayev to support Israel’s bid for a nonpermanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for 2019–2020.[6] Officials signed agreements or statements concerning research and development, aviation, an agricultural consortium, agricultural cooperation, and civil-service cooperation.[6]

Later exchanges included President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s reception of Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana in 2025.[2] Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar visited Kazakhstan in January 2026 with a high-level business and economic delegation, met Tokayev, and discussed strengthening bilateral and economic cooperation.[6] In April 2026, President Isaac Herzog met Tokayev in Astana to discuss expanding bilateral ties, including the possibility of doubling or tripling trade.[6]

Published commercial figures recorded bilateral trade turnover of $2.7 million in 1992 and $78.4 million in 2012, with the latter figure mainly reflecting Israeli exports.[1] Israeli exports reached $159 million in 2008, while an 18.1 percent decrease in 2011–2012 was associated with reduced telecommunications exports, a sector accounting for approximately one-third of Israeli commercial exports.[1] These published Israeli totals excluded strategically sensitive energy imports and defense exports and therefore did not measure the entire economic relationship.[1]

Israeli exports have included telecommunications equipment, electronic components, food and beverages, chemicals, machinery, mechanical equipment, and metals.[1] Imports from Kazakhstan have included wheat with high gluten content and basic metals, alongside smaller quantities of cotton, machinery, plastics, and rubber.[1] Israeli commercial interests have also extended to mining, desalination, construction, and banking.[1] Kazakhstan is included among countries with which Israel has an investment-protection agreement.[8]

Government-backed financing supported commercial ties early in the relationship.[1] In 1994, the Knesset approved specific-purpose credit for Kazakhstan, and the Israeli government provided guarantees covering 65 percent of private credits advanced for economic projects there.[1] A 2007 Bank Hapoalim credit line to Kazakhstan’s Bank Turan Alem was intended to finance 85 percent of Israeli medium- and long-term export contracts.[1]

Israeli investment in Kazakhstan was estimated at approximately $300 million between 1993 and September 2006, compared with $50 million of Kazakh investment in Israel.[1] In 2006, Kazakhstan’s National Innovation Fund invested $10 million in the third fund of Israeli venture-capital firm Vertex.[7] Peres and Masimov also announced plans for Kazakhstan’s oil fund to invest millions of dollars in economic projects in Israel and the Middle East, principally the proposed Peace Valley project involving Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians.[7] Their discussions included modern-agriculture schools in both countries, the Red Sea–Dead Sea canal project, and a free-trade industrial zone.[7]

A 2009 analysis reported 52 Israeli companies operating in Kazakhstan.[9] A separate 2012 count identified 190 Israeli companies meeting an export-value threshold for business with Kazakhstan.[1] The figures reflect different dates and counting methods rather than a single continuous series.[1][9] Later reported bilateral trade figures were $882 million in 2022 and $236 million in 2024.[10]

The ninth Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation met in Nur-Sultan on July 12, 2022, with an Israeli delegation led by the Foreign Ministry and co-chaired by Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov.[11] Officials from agriculture, energy, trade and industry, health, and other departments participated, and the delegation met Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov and other officials.[11] Discussions covered possible wheat and flour imports, direct flights, and joint ventures in agriculture, renewable energy, cybersecurity, and health.[11]

The tenth economic commission convened in November 2026, with Kazakhstan sending a 60-person delegation to Israel.[3] The parties signed a double-taxation agreement, memorandums of understanding on artificial intelligence, labor, and cybersecurity, and a joint declaration on space.[3] The Kazakh delegation was led by Deputy Prime Minister Zhaslan Madiyev and included representatives from 12 ministries, among them nine deputy ministers.[12] The taxation agreement followed more than a decade of negotiations and was intended to ease conditions for companies and investors.[12]

Kazakh oil has formed a substantial component of Israel’s energy imports, although available figures describe different periods and measures.[1][2] Historical estimates placed Kazakhstan’s contribution at roughly 15–25 percent of Israel’s oil needs.[1] A later estimate put Kazakhstan’s share at about 25 percent of Israel’s total oil imports, while reporting in July 2022 identified Kazakhstan as Israel’s second-largest oil supplier at that time.[2][11]

An estimate associated with the earlier period valued Israeli oil imports from Kazakhstan at more than $1.4 billion and placed oil at approximately 95 percent of non-defense bilateral trade.[1] Those imports were excluded from official Israeli trade statistics, explaining why published commercial totals could be much smaller than estimates incorporating energy.[1] Oil imports from Kazakhstan fell in 2013 compared with the preceding year.[1]

A 2009 analysis in the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs described Israel’s purchases of Kazakh oil, alongside supplies from Azerbaijan and Egypt, as part of an interest in diversifying petroleum sources.[9] The article reported that Kazakhstan then exported most of its oil through Russia, while a tanker route across the Caspian and a possible pipeline bypassing Moscow were under discussion.[9]

Israel’s development-cooperation agency, MASHAV, has supported local capacity in Kazakhstan, particularly in agriculture and medicine.[1] Agricultural assistance included a five-year Aral Sea project undertaken with the United States Agency for International Development.[6] In 2002, MASHAV launched construction of a fish hatchery in Kazakhstan within a broader USAID program for environmental and economic rehabilitation in the Aral Sea area.[13]

Introducing Israeli drip-irrigation technology also required practical explanation: a former Israeli ambassador recalled Kazakh partners initially asking why the pipes should not have even more holes.[1] In May 2015, Israel’s Foreign and Agriculture Ministries inaugurated a project to develop Kazakhstan’s irrigation systems.[6] Representatives of both governments attended the June 3 opening of the Israel–Kazakhstan Irrigation Demonstration Center in the Almaty region.[6]

Not every agricultural initiative advanced beyond high-level commitments.[1] In 2009, Peres and Nazarbayev each pledged $10 million annually toward a joint agricultural research fund, but the Israeli contribution had not been coordinated with the relevant government bodies and was not provided.[1] The Volcani Institute offered an in-kind contribution instead, which Kazakhstan ultimately declined, and the planned project did not proceed.[1]

Commercial water projects included a reported $14 million contract awarded to IDE Technologies in 2006 for two desalination units on Kazakhstan’s Caspian coast.[14] Designed to produce 12,000 cubic meters of water daily, the units were intended to serve a national power station and supply drinking water to residents near Aqtau.[14] The plan called for construction in Israel, shipment to Kazakhstan, and operation beginning in late 2007.[14]

In 2014, Mekorot signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan’s government to assist in developing national water resources.[15] Proposed activities included training through a water-studies center, advice on creating a Kazakh national water company modeled on Mekorot, and water-system projects.[15] The broader program was estimated at $20 billion by 2020, a projection rather than confirmation of completed investment.[15] Mekorot chief executive Shimon Ben Hamo said the company would help develop the local water system and establish a national water company; Israeli infrastructure minister Silvan Shalom linked the initiative to Israel’s contribution to addressing the global water crisis.[15]

Water cooperation gained another institutional channel in November 2026 with the first meeting of a joint water working group, led on Israel’s side by the Water Authority.[12] The decision to establish the group had been made during Sa’ar’s January 2026 visit to Astana.[12]

Medical treatment and advanced professional training have been important reasons for Kazakh travel to Israel.[1] In 2013, Israel’s ambassador stated that 40 percent of Kazakh citizens traveling to Israel did so for medical treatment or advanced medical training.[1] Israeli surgeons were also invited to Kazakhstan, while Kazakh farmers and scientists received training in Israel.[1][4]

In 2018, Israeli ambassador Liat Wexelman identified high-technology cooperation as her embassy’s “number one priority.”[16] Israeli experts helped companies locate local partners, and an Israeli–Kazakh startup accelerator and technology hub were being established to support joint entrepreneurship.[16] Plans also included a business forum devoted to agricultural and water technologies and cooperation in medical research and development.[16]

Direct flights operated briefly in the early 2000s, and discussions about reviving them were under way in 2013.[1] A direct Almaty–Tel Aviv air route opened in 2023, facilitating tourism and business ties.[5]

Religious contacts have accompanied these civilian exchanges through Israeli participation in Astana’s interreligious congress.[5] An April 2026 Tikvah Ideas article also reported that Herzog visited a local synagogue and met Jewish leaders during his visit to Kazakhstan.[17]

Security relations developed from 2001, with Kazakhstan purchasing equipment from Israeli defense companies, including rocket systems and drones from Elbit, Israel Aerospace Industries, and Rafael.[18] The years 2007–2009 were identified as a high point in this cooperation.[18] The broader relationship has included technology transfer and joint development, although Russia remained Kazakhstan’s primary defense partner in the period covered by the earlier bilateral assessment.[1]

Reported areas of work included artillery systems, communications, simulation equipment, unmanned aircraft, and command-and-control systems.[1] On January 20, 2014, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Kazakh Defense Minister Adilbek Dzhaksbekov signed a security-cooperation accord in Tel Aviv, formalizing military and defense ties.[19] The agreement was expected to support Israeli defense exports and Kazakhstan’s capabilities in unmanned systems, border protection, satellite communications, and command and control; the ministers did not release further details.[19]

Dzhaksbekov said of the occasion: “This is my first visit to Israel, and I hope it will serve as a milestone for enhancing cooperation between the two countries.”[19] Later reporting linked constraints on Israeli defense sales to Kazakhstan’s classification under the countries’ security arrangement and indicated Kazakh interest in upgrading that arrangement.[18]

Space activity has also connected the countries through Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome.[1] Israeli-built telecommunications satellites have been launched from the site, including Amos-4 in September 2013.[1] A joint declaration on space signed during the November 2026 economic commission added a further formal instrument to this area of cooperation.[3]

Kazakhstan has supported a two-state solution while recognizing Israel’s interest in living securely and free of terrorism.[1] Its wider diplomatic activity included hosting two rounds of Iran–P5+1 nuclear talks in Almaty in 2013.[1] Nazarbayev also offered mediation in cases concerning Iranian Jews arrested on alleged spying charges, missing Israeli pilot Ron Arad, and captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.[1]

A 2009 Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs analysis characterized the countries as economically complementary and as sharing geopolitical interests, including opposition to terrorism.[9] It emphasized Israeli technological, military, agricultural, medical, and educational expertise alongside Kazakhstan’s natural resources.[9] The same article reported that Nazarbayev had appealed to Iran, including in 1994, for information about missing Israeli servicemen and to abandon nuclear weapons, while stating that those appeals had not been heeded by its publication.[9]

On November 6, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Kazakhstan’s move to join the Abraham Accords after speaking with Netanyahu and Tokayev.[20] Because diplomatic relations already existed, the announcement concerned participation in the Accords rather than the establishment of bilateral recognition or embassies.[2][20] Kazakhstan’s government called the anticipated accession “a natural and logical continuation” of its foreign policy.[20]

A November 7 U.S. fact sheet identified Kazakhstan as the first country in Trump’s second term to join the Accords and said that the United States and Kazakhstan intended to hold a signing ceremony to mark the decision.[21] A House resolution introduced that month described Kazakhstan as the first Central Asian country to join, referred to accession as anticipated, and was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on November 17.[5] A 2026 U.S. report described the November 6 action as an agreement to accede and identified Kazakhstan as the first Central Asian signatory.[22] It also outlined plans for consultative mechanisms with Azerbaijan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan following the agreement.[22]

In November 2025 commentary, Amit Segal argued in Tikvah Ideas that Kazakhstan’s decision had more to do with U.S. strategy in Asia than with its already-good relations with Israel.[23] An April 2026 Tikvah Ideas article likewise presented participation in the Accords as an addition to a relationship dating to 1992.[17]

During Herzog’s April 2026 visit, the leaders linked plans to expand bilateral ties to Kazakhstan’s participation in the Accords and presented the framework as contributing to regional stability and collaboration.[6]

Defense procurement has generated significant controversy.[1][19] One account links corruption charges involving Israeli artillery sales to the dismissal of Kazakhstan’s defense minister and other senior officials in 2004.[19] A separate account describes the 2009 arrests of a Kazakh deputy defense minister and Israeli businessman Boris Sheinkman over alleged purchases of incomplete or faulty artillery systems.[1] Reported amounts under suspicion ranged from $82 million to $300 million; these were allegations and divergent reported figures, not established losses.[1]

The Gaza conflict also produced public pressure in Kazakhstan, including an online petition to end oil exports to Israel and attempts to boycott brands associated with Israel.[24] Regional governments’ positions generally favored the Palestinian side, but this did not amount to an intention to sever cooperation with Israel.[24] Later reporting described bilateral trade as slowing after growth through 2024, in the context of the Israel–Hamas war.[2]

Accounts differ over the procedural completion of Kazakhstan’s Abraham Accords accession: they variously describe an agreement to accede, joining, and a signing ceremony still to be held.[21][22] Aviation reporting also leaves an unexplained gap between a direct route opened in 2023 and April 2026 reports that the countries were close to approving direct flights.[5][6] The available accounts do not establish whether the later statement concerned renewed, expanded, or different service.[5][6]