Israel and Somaliland have agreed to open embassies in Jerusalem and Hargeisa. Israel’s influence in the strategic Horn of Africa is growing. And there have been warnings Israel might ethnically cleanse Palestinians out of Palestine and into the country.
Israel was one of the first countries to recognise Somaliland, a breakaway territory of Somalia, in the early 1990s. UN members railed against the move, but the US defended Israel while not recognising Somaliland itself.
Middle East Eye reported on 19 May:
Somaliland is opening an embassy in Jerusalem, and Israel will reciprocate by opening one in the breakaway region of Somalia, in the latest sign that the two are deepening their ties.
The breakaway country’s ambassador to Israel Mohamed Hagi said:
I am pleased to announce that the Republic of Somaliland’s embassy will be located in Jerusalem – the embassy will be opened soon.
Israel will also establish its embassy in Hargeisa, reflecting growing friendship, mutual respect, and strategic cooperation between our two peoples.
Somaliland borders Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti. The latter is home to a major US colonial base and the US has an entire task force devoted to the Horn of Africa.
Israel’s 1991 recognition of breakaway country also caused concerns among other countries in the region:
The move elicited a particularly strong response from Arab and Muslim states that are wary of Israel gaining a foothold in the strategic Horn of Africa through an unrecognised state.
MEE said:
In return for Israeli recognition, Somaliland said it would sign up to the Abraham Accords, the US-led agreements in which Morocco, Bahrain, and the UAE established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020 and 2021. Sudan’s agreement to normalise remains unratified amid its civil war.
Somaliland is a strategic node in a wider struggle for influence playing out in the region. The unrecognised state is 30km south of the Bab el-Mandab Strait, the narrow waterway that connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea.
And there are fears that Israel could remove Palestinians from their land, depositing them in Somaliland. Responsible Statecraft wrote on 7 January 2026:
Somali officials have made particularly attention-grabbing claims, alleging that Somaliland is now set to host an Israeli military base and perhaps even camps for Palestinians forcibly displaced from Gaza.
MEE‘s Turkey bureau chief Ragip Soylu said at the time:
NEW: Somaliland agreed three conditions to be recognised by Israel:
1- the resettlement of Palestinians in Somaliland.
2- An Israeli military base on the Gulf of Aden coast.
3- Somaliland’s inclusion to the Abraham Accords.
— Somali President HSM
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) December 31, 2025
The former colonial power in the region, Britain, also has some things to answer for:
During the colonial period, British authorities governed Somaliland as a separate entity from the rest of the territory that would one day become Somalia, which Italy controlled at the time. Somaliland even briefly existed as an independent state in 1960, garnering recognition from roughly 30 other countries.
But days after its foundation, Somaliland realigned with Somalia, starting a chain of events which led to civil war and a genocide of some 50,000 Somaliland citizens.
Somaliland is, among other things, a node in the imperial architecture of the region and a one-time colonial possession of the western powers. Israel’s influence appears to follow a similar pattern of outside interference. Only 30 miles from the narrow strait where Red Sea trade flows into the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland’s strategic value is clearly attractive to regional and world powers.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
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