Kuwait could join the Abraham Accords within the next six months, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Yossi Shelley said Tuesday, in what would represent a dramatic expansion of Israel’s normalization agreements in the Gulf, i24NEWS reports.

Shelley made the prediction on the sixth anniversary of the Abraham Accords, which established formal diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries. He did not provide additional details about possible negotiations with Kuwait, saying only that the Emiratis were also working toward closer cooperation.

Kuwait has historically been among the Gulf countries most resistant to establishing formal relations with Israel. Unlike several neighboring monarchies, the country has an influential parliament where Islamists and Arab nationalists have traditionally been strongly opposed to normalization with Israel.

Despite that domestic opposition, Kuwait’s Emir, Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, retains ultimate authority over the country’s foreign policy. Shelley’s comments therefore raise the possibility of a significant diplomatic breakthrough despite longstanding Kuwaiti resistance to joining the Abraham Accords.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)