Israel recognized the Republic of Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, as an independent and sovereign state, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday, December 26.

The agreement, formalized through a declaration of mutual recognition, was ratified by Israeli Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, and the President of Somaliland, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi.

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According to the Israeli government, this alliance is based on the vision of the Abraham Accords, seeking to replicate the model of normalizing diplomatic relations that Israel has promoted with other nations in the region with the support of the United States.

I announced today the official recognition of the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state.

Together with Foreign Minister Sa’ar and the President of the Republic of Somaliland, we signed a joint and mutual declaration.

This declaration is in the spirit of… pic.twitter.com/WlZuN1HB5z

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) December 26, 2025

According to the text, the new framework for bilateral relations includes an agenda for immediate cooperation focused on strategic sectors such as health, technology, the economy, and agriculture. During the ceremony, Netanyahu praised Somaliland’s leadership in preserving security and peace, extending an invitation to President Abdullahi to visit Israel soon.

For his part, Gideon Saar used his social media to emphasize that this mutual recognition agreement is not a chance event, but rather the culmination of extensive and sustained dialogue between the two nations over the past year. According to the diplomat, this prior rapprochement laid the necessary foundation of trust to formalize the bilateral agreement announced this Friday.

From the African perspective, the Somaliland Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its firm commitment to formally joining the Abraham Accords. In an official statement, the Somali government celebrated Israel’s gesture as a historic and fundamental achievement in its persistent struggle for international recognition, an objective it has pursued for decades.

After so many years, the people of Mogadishu are voting. Today, history is made. For the first time, many people in Mogadishu are standing before a ballot, holding a right that was denied to them for decades. A right their parents only spoke about and their grandparents once… pic.twitter.com/OUKS5qII2L

— Fardowsa Matan Bulle (@princeser) December 25, 2025

The governments of Egypt, Turkey, Somalia, and Djibouti expressed their strong rejection of Israel’s decision to recognize the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland as an independent state. A statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry reported that Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdellatty held crucial telephone conversations with his counterparts from these three countries to coordinate a diplomatic response following the announcement.

After reaching an agreement, the ministers communicated “their total rejection and condemnation of this recognition,” emphasizing their full support for the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Somalia, in a clear message of support for the African nation.

Since the fall of Mohamed Siad Barre’s regime in 1991, Somalia’s structure as a unified state has collapsed, giving way to territorial fragmentation. Currently, international legitimacy rests exclusively with the Federal Government, whose authority is primarily limited to the capital, Mogadishu, and specific regions of the country.

The power vacuum at the central level has allowed for the consolidation of various self-governing entities and regional administrations that operate outside the control of the capital. One example is the Republic of Somaliland, located in the north, which maintains de facto independence that the rest of the world still interprets as part of the Somali federation.

Similarly, to the east, the Puntland region has maintained its own autonomous regime since its official declaration in 1998.

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