Hersi Ali Haji Hassan tells Al Jazeera that Hargeisa had \u2018no choice\u2019 but to seek recognition from Tel Aviv after 34 years of isolation.<\/p>\n
A senior official from Somaliland\u2019s governing party has fiercely defended the breakaway region\u2019s decision to normalise relations with Israel, dismissing widespread condemnation from the Arab and Muslim world as hypocritical.<\/p>\n
In a heated interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher on Wednesday, Hersi Ali Haji Hassan, chairman of the ruling Waddani party, argued that Somaliland was forced to look to Israel for legitimacy after being ignored by the international community for decades.<\/p>\n
The comments follow a controversial visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to Hargeisa, the region\u2019s largest city and \u201ccapital\u201d, earlier this week \u2013 the first since Israel recognised the region\u2019s independence in late December.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not in a position to choose,\u201d Hassan told Al Jazeera. \u201cWe are in a state of necessity for official international recognition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no choice before us but to welcome any country that recognises our existential right,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u2018They ignored us for 34 years\u2019<\/p>\n
The visit has triggered a diplomatic firestorm. The federal government in Mogadishu, which considers Somaliland part of its territory, condemned the move as a violation of sovereignty. The Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also issued statements rejecting the \u201cseparatist reality\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hassan, however, brushed off the criticism.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been an independent state for 34 years,\u201d he said. \u201cThe rejection of the Arab League does not matter to us at all. They did not accept us as a member \u2026 and we did not receive any attention from Arab countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
When pressed on why Somaliland would ally with Israel while it is isolated in the region, Hassan pointed to other Arab nations.<\/p>\n
\u201cNormalisation with Israel is not limited to Somaliland,\u201d he argued. \u201cMany Arab and Islamic countries have broad political and economic relations with Israel, such as Egypt, Turkiye, Jordan, and the UAE.\u201d<\/p>\n
The military base question<\/p>\n
Regional powers are concerned that the new alliance could lead to an Israeli military foothold at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.<\/p>\n
When asked repeatedly if Somaliland would allow Israel to establish a military base on its soil, Hassan refused to rule it out explicitly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have started diplomatic relations\u2026 This topic [a military base] has not been touched upon now,\u201d Hassan said.<\/p>\n
Pressed further on whether Hargeisa would accept such a request in the future, he replied: \u201cAsk the question when the time comes\u2026 The question is untimely.\u201d<\/p>\n
He insisted that the relationship is currently diplomatic and economic, aimed at securing international legitimacy.<\/p>\n
\u2018Political, not religious\u2019<\/p>\n
The interview grew tense when the discussion turned to the war on Gaza. The anchor Ahmed Taha challenged Hassan on the morality of forging ties with a state accused of genocide, asking how he could ignore the suffering of \u201ctwo million besieged Palestinians\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hassan sought to separate the political deal from religious solidarity, claiming that the war in Gaza had \u201cstopped\u201d following a US-brokered initiative in October 2025 \u2013 a reference to a recent ceasefire deal championed by United States President Donald Trump. Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe deal with Israel politically,\u201d Hassan said. \u201cPolitical dealing is not something religion forbids\u2026 Our stance on the Palestinian people is similar to the stance of Arab and Islamic countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are far from these problems,\u201d he added. \u201cWe are looking for international recognition\u2026 That is the key.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hersi Ali Haji Hassan tells Al Jazeera that Hargeisa had \u2018no choice\u2019 but to seek recognition from Tel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1911,85,46,43,75037],"class_list":{"0":"post-227135","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-somalia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}