Which countries signed the Abraham Accords and when?
Executive summary
The Abraham Accords were first formalized in Washington on September 15, 2020 between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain; Morocco and Sudan subsequently entered normalization arrangements under the same framework later in 2020–21 (Morocco in December 2020; Sudan agreed in early 2021, though full bilateral normalization has been delayed) [1] [2] [3]. Reporting through 2025 records Kazakhstan announcing accession on November 6, 2025, and ongoing diplomatic outreach to expand the Accords to other states, including Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon, though those remain prospects rather than original signatories [4] [2] [5].
1. The core 2020 Washington signings: a diplomatic leap
The headline moment came on September 15, 2020, at the White House when Israel, the UAE and Bahrain formalized the Abraham Accords in ceremonies mediated by the United States—an event that ended a long period without Arab formal recognition of Israel beyond Egypt and Jordan [1] [6]. The agreements were presented publicly as a package of normalization commitments—diplomatic recognition, economic and security cooperation—framed by the Trump administration as a strategic reordering of regional ties [1].
2. Morocco and Sudan: joined, but with different legal and political statuses
Morocco established official diplomatic ties with Israel in December 2020 under the same broad Accords rubric; Sudan also signed the general declaration in 2020–21 but, according to multiple sources, its path to full bilateral normalization has been hampered by domestic instability and remained incomplete as of 2024–25 [4] [3] [1]. Major institutions and analysts treat Morocco and Sudan as part of the Accords’ initial wave, but they note important differences in implementation and ratification between the states [3] [4].
3. Who is officially a signatory? Short list and contested edges
Authoritative public summaries list Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan as the principal Abraham Accords participants from 2020–21; some institutional overviews and reference works name the first four (Israel, UAE, Bahrain, Morocco) as the core signatories while noting Sudan’s special status as having signed the general declaration but struggling to implement a bilateral normalization agreement [2] [3] [5]. Sources consistently flag that the Accords are a bundle of bilateral agreements framed by a general declaration rather than a single multilateral treaty [2].
4. Expansion after 2020: Kazakhstan and diplomatic outreach in 2025
By late 2025 Kazakhstan publicly announced accession—formalizing its entry on November 6, 2025—though analysts remind readers Kazakhstan and Israel already had diplomatic relations prior to this accession [4] [2]. The second Trump administration and U.S. envoys pursued broader enlargement in 2025, with public signals that Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon were targets for outreach; reporting stresses these were prospective expansions, not retroactive elements of the 2020 signings [1] [7] [4].
5. Political context and competing views on what “signing” means
Observers disagree on whether the Accords are best described as a single pact or as a diplomatic platform of separate bilateral normalization agreements tied to a common declaration: Britannica and other outlets emphasize the latter—individual bilateral pacts signed in the second half of 2020—while policy think tanks and government statements treat the Accords as an expandable framework [2] [4]. Critics argue the Accords sidelined the Palestinian question and exposed signatories to domestic political costs; advocates highlight new security, economic and technological ties [8] [7].
6. Limitations in the available record and what sources don’t say
Available sources do not mention a single, uniform date when all named countries “signed” the same document—rather, they document staggered bilateral steps [2] [3]. Precise legal texts, ratification dates for each bilateral agreement, and the internal parliamentary procedures for Sudan and Morocco are not laid out in the cited summaries and would require primary government documents not included in the current reporting [3] [4].
7. Bottom line for readers seeking a concise answer
The practical short answer: the Abraham Accords’ headline signings were Israel, the UAE and Bahrain on September 15, 2020; Morocco joined with a bilateral normalization agreement in December 2020; Sudan signed the general declaration and agreed to normalize but has faced implementation delays; Kazakhstan announced accession on November 6, 2025. Sources differ on labels and status—treat the Accords as a set of bilateral normalizations united under a U.S.-mediated framework rather than a single multilateral treaty [1] [2] [4].