Close
Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi. Credit: Dr. Mohamed Hagi
Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi. Credit: Dr. Mohamed Hagi
Israel on Friday officially recognized Somaliland, the breakaway region of Somalia, after months of secret negotiations between the two states.
“This declaration is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords signed at the initiative of President Trump,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, adding that he spoke with the East African leader and that Israel “plans to immediately expand … cooperation in the fields of agriculture, health, technology and the economy.”
“Over the past year, based on an extensive and ongoing dialogue, relations between Israel and Somaliland have taken shape,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on X. “Following the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the President of Somaliland Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, today we signed an agreement on mutual recognition.”
Somaliland is an unrecognized state in the Horn of Africa bordering Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti. In April, Sa’ar first met with representatives of the Somaliland president for a meeting that launched the process. Since then, there have been secret visits by senior officials.
Foreign press outlets have reported that Israeli officials have expressed interest in the state due to its proximity to Yemen, home to the Iran-backed Houthis.
The U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments, including Somaliland, to discuss using their territories as potential destinations for resettling Palestinians, the Associated Press reported in March. Netanyahu is set to visit U.S. President Donald Trump next week for talks on implementing the second phase of the Gaza cease-fire plan.