Abraham Accords countries meet for first time since Oct. 7, with Kazakhstan attending
The gathering in New York is the first formal meeting of the accords' members since the 2023 Hamas attacks stalled efforts to add countries.
What we know
- The United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco held the first official meeting of Abraham Accords countries since Oct. 7, 2023, on Thursday in New York, according to CBS News. [2]
- Officials from Kazakhstan, which has said it wants to join the accords, attended for the first time. [2]
- The U.S. delegation was led by Allison Hooker, the State Department's under secretary of political affairs, who said the accords are "moving forward again." [2]
- The U.S.-based N7 Foundation hosted the meeting, and its founder, Jeffrey Talpins, chaired it. [2]
- Not yet confirmed: CBS News, citing a person familiar with the meeting, reported that participants discussed next steps to formalize cooperation among Abraham Accords countries. That detail rests on that single anonymous account.
Representatives of the Abraham Accords countries held their first official meeting since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, CBS News reported. The State Department shared the report on X on Friday. [1][2]
The meeting took place Thursday morning in a midtown Manhattan office tower, near the U.N. General Assembly, according to CBS News. Participants included the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. [2]
Officials from Kazakhstan also took part for the first time. Kazakhstan expressed interest in joining the accords last year, CBS News reported. In a statement to the network on Friday, Kazakh Ambassador Erzhan Kazykhan said: "We see the Accords as a platform to reinforce political dialogue across the Middle East and neighboring regions by expanding trade and investment, strengthening connectivity, promoting technological cooperation and creating tangible economic opportunities." [2]
Allison Hooker, the State Department's under secretary of political affairs, led the U.S. delegation. "Nearly three years after October 7, the Abraham Accords countries are back together," Hooker said, according to CBS News. Hooker added that President Trump brokered the agreements in the first term and called the meeting an important sign that the accords are "moving forward again." [2]
The N7 Foundation, which CBS News said has convened multilateral meetings of accords countries since 2021, hosted the session. Talpins, the foundation's founder, chaired it. "The next phase is about deepening the relationships that already exist and identifying practical opportunities for countries to work together," Talpins said. [2]
CBS News reported that the Oct. 7 attacks and the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran that followed stalled the accords' expansion. Trump announced Kazakhstan's intention to join in November 2025, and wrote on Truth Social at the time that a signing ceremony would be announced soon. [2]