image source, Getty Images
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- Author, Tom McArthur
- Author title, BBCNews
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Reading time: 4 minutes
Israel is the first country to officially recognize Somaliland, Somalia’s breakaway region, as an independent nation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that his country intends to immediately expand cooperation with Somaliland in the areas of agriculture, health and technology.
For his part, Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi described the Israeli statement as a “historic moment.”
Recognition by Israel could encourage other nations to follow its lead, which would strengthen the independence region’s diplomatic position and its access to international markets.
However, the decision was condemned by the foreign ministers of Somalia, Egypt, Turkey and Djibouti, who in a statement reiterated their “total rejection” of Israel’s announcement.
Abdullahi said in a statement that Somaliland would join the Israel-sponsored Abraham Accords, through which it normalized relations with several Muslim countries.
“Somaliland is committed to building alliances, promoting mutual prosperity and promoting stability in the Middle East and Africa,” he added.
The two countries agreed to “establish comprehensive diplomatic relations, which will include the appointment of ambassadors and the opening of embassies,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement published on X.
“I have directed my ministry to act immediately to institutionalize relations between both countries in a variety of areas,” he said.
image source, Getty Images
“A dangerous precedent”
Meanwhile, Egypt’s foreign minister held separate telephone conversations with his counterparts from Somalia, Turkey and Djibouti to discuss various issues, including Israel’s statement.
In a statement, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry reported that the four countries reiterated their support for Somalia’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity and warned against unilateral actions that could undermine stability or create so-called “parallel entities” with Somali state institutions.
They also argued that recognizing the independence of parts of sovereign states would set a dangerous precedent in international law and the United Nations Charter.
The statement added that the ministers reiterated their rejection of any plan to expel Palestinians from their territory.
image source, Getty Images
War of Independence
Israel has sought to strengthen ties with countries in the Middle East and Africa for years, but recent wars, including those in Gaza and against Iran, have been seen as an obstacle to this.
The Abraham Accords, signed in 2020 during Trump’s first term in the US, allowed several countries, including the Muslim-majority United Arab Emirates and Morocco, to normalize their relations with Israel.
Somaliland enjoys a strategic location in the Gulf of Aden and has its own currency, passports and police force.
It was founded in 1991 after a war of independence against former dictator General Siad Barre and has since struggled with decades of isolation.
With a population of nearly six million, this self-proclaimed republic has recently been at the center of several regional conflicts between Somalia, Ethiopia and Egypt.
Last year, Somalia angered an agreement between landlocked Ethiopia and Somaliland to lease a stretch of coastline for a port and military base.
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