Overview
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi signed a joint declaration of mutual recognition.
- Israel and Somaliland plan to appoint ambassadors and open embassies, with Israel pledging immediate cooperation in agriculture, health, technology and the economy.
- Abdullahi welcomed the step as a ‘historic moment,’ accepted an invitation to visit Israel and said Somaliland will seek to join the Abraham Accords.
- Somalia, Egypt, Turkey and Djibouti criticized the decision, with Egypt reporting calls among foreign ministers who warned it threatens Somalia’s territorial integrity and regional stability.
- Analysts highlight Somaliland’s strategic position near the Gulf of Aden and Yemen, while Israel signals it will raise Somaliland’s Abraham Accords ambitions with U.S. interlocutors, leaving broader international recognition uncertain.