Israel is negotiating with Mauritania, Indonesia, Somalia, and Niger to expand the 2020 Abraham Accords normalization agreements, according to Israeli media reports on Tuesday.
The negotiations reportedly are being mediated by senior officials in the United States' State Department. These include Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Special Presidential Coordinator Amos Hochstein. During the previous Israeli administration, Hochstein mediated the Israel-Lebanon maritime deal.
According to a report by Israel Hayom, the Abraham Accords could already draw new signatories in the coming months, as talks are underway.
Israel's most advanced negotiations currently are reportedly with Mauritania. The northwestern African country, an Islamic republic, established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1999 but cut ties in 2008 over the war between Israel and Gaza.
Israel and Indonesia – home to the world's largest Muslim population – have unofficial connections in trade technology and tourism, despite not having any official ties.
Israel and Somalia – another Muslim African country – have never had diplomatic ties but, according to reports, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is interested in establishing such ties.
Israel has not had diplomatic ties with Niger in the past either, but such ties are important to the Jewish state because Niger is a global supplier of uranium, which can be used to produce nuclear bombs. Israel is seeking to prevent the sale of the material to countries that are hostile to Israel.
Overall, Israel is interested in seeking the establishment of diplomatic ties with as many countries as possible, especially because Israel has few natural allies in international organizations such as the United Nations and needs to reduce the number of nations that continue to vote against it in various international forums.
This article originally appeared on All Israel News and is reposted with permission.