Relationship dossier
Israel
Kuwait
Relationship assessment
Kuwait maintains a boycott and opposes normalization with Israel, particularly absent progress on Palestinian statehood.
Israel toward Kuwait
Not assessedKuwait toward Israel
-30Kuwait's government maintains nonrecognition and a boycott of Israel. In 2020, Kuwait stated that it would not normalize relations before a resolution advancing Palestinian rights and statehood.
Overall relationship
Not assessedHow to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Kuwait maintains a government policy of nonrecognition and participation in the boycott of Israel, and has rejected normalization absent progress toward Palestinian statehood. Information about Israeli government conduct specifically toward Kuwait is insufficient to assess that aspect of the relationship.
Areas of tension
- Kuwait's nonrecognition and boycott of Israel
- Disagreement over Palestinian rights, statehood, and normalization
Key developments
Kuwait stated that it would not normalize relations with Israel before progress toward resolving the Palestinian issue.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and current implementation of Kuwait's restrictions on dealings with Israel are unclear.
- Specific Israeli government policies or actions toward Kuwait are unclear.