When Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visited Somaliland on Tuesday, he became the first Israeli official to visit the breakaway republic since his country established full diplomatic relations with it in the closing days of last year.<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the diplomatic recognition of Somaliland \u2013 a breakaway part of Somalia \u2013 on December 26. He said that the recognition was in keeping with \u201cthe spirit of the Abraham Accords\u201d, referring to the United States-led initiative encouraging a number of Arab countries to normalise relations with Israel in return for diplomatic and financial concessions from the US.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n But Israel\u2019s recognition of Somaliland has prompted protests within Somalia and complaints from dozens of countries and organisations, including Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and the African Union.<\/p>\n Meeting with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi in the Somaliland capital of Hargeisa on Tuesday, Saar told reporters that Israel had not been discouraged by criticism of its decision.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hear the attacks, the criticism, the condemnations,\u201d he said. \u201cNobody will determine for Israel who we recognise and who we maintain diplomatic relations with.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s recognition of Somaliland comes after more than two years of its genocidal war on Gaza, and attacks on regional countries, including Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Yemen, and Qatar.<\/p>\n Attacks on Lebanon continue, and there are new indications that Israel may be seeking to launch renewed attacks on Iran, its main regional nemesis.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s wars appear to be an attempt to portray itself \u2013 with US backing \u2013 as the regional hegemon, uninterested in compromising with its enemies.<\/p>\n Recognition of Somaliland, despite regional opposition, marks the latest part of that strategy.<\/p>\n And Israel has found a new ally in the Horn of Africa on the back of its decision.<\/p>\n Despite being self-governing for more than 30 years, Somaliland has failed to gain international recognition, despite maintaining its own currency, passport and army.<\/p>\n Recognition has been elusive, meaning that even if there are qualms from some over ties with Israel, many are willing to overlook them in the hope that this decision will pave the path for other countries to follow.<\/p>\n \u201cClans, militias and corruption have ruined Somalia,\u201d Somali journalist and human rights activist Abdalle Mumin, who was previously imprisoned by his country\u2019s authorities, told Al Jazeera, \u201cAt least in Somaliland they have achieved some kind of peace and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMany hope that other countries will follow Israel,\u201d Mumin continued.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, speculation over why Israel chose to recognise Somaliland has mounted since Netanyahu\u2019s announcement, with analysts pointing to its strategic location at the crossroads between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n Somaliland\u2019s port of Berbera lies close to some of the world\u2019s busiest maritime routes, which have come under attack over the past two years from Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebel movement, a sworn enemy of Israel.<\/p>\n These were all factors in Israel\u2019s recognition, former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy said, acknowledging that the Netanyahu government also benefitted from preserving the suggestion that Somaliland may take in Palestinians forced out of Gaza.<\/p>\n However, Levy suspects Israel\u2019s ambitions may be grander still, including increasing the country\u2019s value to its chief sponsor, the US.<\/p>\n By securing an ally in a strategically important region,<\/p>\n The key dynamic, according to Levy, is momentum.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you set out to do something like this, you can\u2019t just stop [at recognition],\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cYou have to keep taking steps: more aircraft, more presence, more moves. Once you\u2019ve committed to this kind of game, you need to stay at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n The timing of the move, shortly before Netanyahu\u2019s meeting with US President Donald Trump on December 29, also held significance, Levy said.<\/p>\n Israel was trying to place itself more firmly on what it imagines Washington\u2019s agenda to be, and how it imagines great power competition in the Horn of Africa, particularly with China, which maintains a base in neighbouring Djibouti, might play out.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen before that Israel can put something on the table and the Americans follow later,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Israel may be implicitly telling the US, \u201cWe\u2019re active, and we\u2019re positioned in a way that helps you. Having us there helps you.\u201d<\/p>\n According to many observers, the past two years of war have already fundamentally changed the nature of Israel, with the strain of its genocidal war on Gaza, plus news assaults upon its regional neighbours, leaving the country fractured, isolated and with the hard right firmly in the ascendancy.<\/p>\n How enthusiastic the country might be for additional adventures in the Horn of Africa, a region, according to many observers, that remains largely unknown to much of the Israeli public, is unclear.<\/p>\n \u201cIsraelis have no idea what or where Somaliland is. It\u2019s a non-issue in Israel,\u201d Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador and consul general in New York, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first time the news came out, it was published alongside maps showing the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and its position across the Gulf of Aden. They had to show people where it was,\u201d he said, dismissing the suggestion that Israel may ever station troops there.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, this is Netanyahu doing what he\u2019s been doing ever since October 7, 2023: expanding the theatre of conflict,\u201d he said. \u201cBe that to Lebanon, Syria, Yemen or Iran. Now, it\u2019s Somaliland. There\u2019s no other rationale behind it. It\u2019s about always moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visited Somaliland on Tuesday, he became the first Israeli official to visit the breakaway republic since his country established full diplomatic relations with it in the closing days of last year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the diplomatic recognition of Somaliland \u2013 a breakaway part of Somalia \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
Hegemon<\/h2>\n
![\"Residents](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AFP__20251227__894G2CF__v1__HighRes__SomaliaSomalilandIsraelDiplomacy-1767268297.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
Why has Israel recognised Somaliland?<\/h2>\n
![\"Map](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WEB_MAP_SOMALIA_PUNTLAND-1000X562-1687342838.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C433&quality=80\")
Momentum<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"