Kazakhstan's chief Rabbi Yeshaya Cohen said that the Thursday night reports that Astana was joining the Abraham Accords were exciting but not surprising, given the country's pro-peace policies.
"I have lived here since 1994, and I see that Kazakhstan is a model for peace and tolerance," said Cohen.
While Israel and Kazakhstan have had diplomatic relations since 1992, Cohen said that deepening the relationship could only be good.
Trump's Abraham Accords push
When US President Donald Trump announced his intentions to expand the Abraham Accords, the rabbi said that he believed Kazakhstan to be the "right place," as there was much that the world could learn from the country about peace and tolerance.
"I knew one day this will be," said the rabbi, because of the government's adherence to those principles.
Cohen said that the country had fostered a welcoming environment to the seven Jewish congregations in the country, which was also home to the resting place of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, father of Lubavitch Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
The elder Schneerson was exiled to Kazakhstan by the Soviet Union for practicing his faith, and Cohen noted that his legacy was well respected by authorities. The main synagogue in Almaty is a few hundred meters from the grave site.