Israel hosts Somaliland president as Red Sea ties draw scrutiny

Israel gave Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi a high-level reception in Jerusalem, marking the first state visit by a Somaliland leader after Israel recognised the breakaway region. The trip matters because it pulls an unresolved Horn of Africa dispute into Israel’s push for influence around the Red Sea, a route central to global shipping.

Al Jazeera reported that Abdullahi, widely known as Cirro, arrived in Israel six months after Israel became the first country to recognise Somaliland’s independence from Somalia. Somaliland declared independence in 1991 during Somalia’s civil war, but Al Jazeera reported that no country other than Israel has recognised it.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Abdullahi said he was making “the first state visit ever” by a Somaliland president and thanked Israel for recognising Somaliland after 35 years of appeals to the world. Netanyahu said Israel’s decision reflected what he described as Jewish historical sympathy for a small people seeking recognition of their rights.

The visit included meetings with President Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu and Israeli political and security officials, according to Al Jazeera. Abdullahi also laid a wreath at the grave of Theodor Herzl, visited Yad Vashem and received the Friends of Zion Award from the Friends of Zion Museum.

Somaliland opened an embassy in West Jerusalem during the visit at a ceremony attended by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Al Jazeera reported. That step drew criticism from Palestine, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League, because most countries keep embassies in Tel Aviv while Jerusalem’s status remains disputed.

Security focus around the Red Sea

The two sides signed a Strategic Cooperation Declaration, which Somaliland’s presidency described as the start of a more significant phase in diplomatic and strategic relations. Al Jazeera reported that officials framed the agenda as covering security, trade and regional strategy.

Somaliland’s location is central to the talks. Al Jazeera noted that its coastline faces the Gulf of Aden near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrow passage linking the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Israel has fought Yemen’s Houthis over the past two years while shipping in the Red Sea has faced repeated disruption, according to Al Jazeera.

Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East analyst at Chatham House, told Al Jazeera that the relationship gives Israel a rare strategic opportunity while it faces deeper isolation after conflicts involving Iran and its allies. “If you look at the geography, it just makes a lot of sense,” Mekelberg said.

Moses Chrispus Okello, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, told Al Jazeera that Israel’s main aim was the Red Sea rather than Somaliland itself. He said the ceremonial reception showed the relationship had moved into a consolidation phase.

Questions about possible military cooperation have followed the relationship since Saar visited Somaliland in January. Al Jazeera reported that Saar said Israel wanted a strategic partnership that included defence cooperation.

Somali officials have alleged that Israel wants a military facility that could be linked to operations against the Houthis, Al Jazeera reported. Abdullahi told Israeli outlet i24 that there is no current plan for such a base, but said he could not rule out the possibility.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies said attention has focused on Berbera, Somaliland’s main coastal city, where an airport built by the Soviet Union and later used by NASA has recently been militarised, according to Al Jazeera’s account of the analysis.

Somalia and regional bodies object

Somalia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ali Omar, told Al Jazeera that Mogadishu’s “gravest fear” is that Somaliland could be pulled into Israel’s regional conflicts. Omar said Somalia remained open to talks on any matter except the country’s unity.

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told local media that Israel had approached Mogadishu several times after concluding it faced regional danger, but Somalia rejected those contacts, according to Al Jazeera. He said Israel’s engagement with Somaliland would create a “very, very big problem,” without giving details.

Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Egypt, the African Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League have expressed concern over Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, Al Jazeera reported. The Houthis warned they would treat any Israeli presence in Somaliland as a military target and later condemned the Jerusalem embassy opening, according to Al Jazeera.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.