Israel's decision to formally recognise Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, has drew criticism from most African countries – most of all Somalia, which has long opposed Somaliland's efforts to secede. RFI looks at what's driving Israel to pursue the partnership, and why it is causing concern throughout the Horn of Africa and Red Sea region.
Since declaring independence in 1991, Somaliland has tried for decades to gain international recognition.
Yet no country acknowledged it as a sovereign state – until Israel did so on 27 December 2025.
Authorities in Somalia, who want to keep their territory intact, have decried Israel's decision and rallied the African Union and other African countries for support.
But Israel and Somaliland are moving forward with their "strategic partnership". Israel's Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, visited Somaliland on Tuesday, 7 January, meeting the region's president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, and discussing ways to enhance bilateral ties.
Next week, Somaliland's president will head to Jerusalem.
Somalia's Foreign Ministry denounced an "unauthorised incursion" into the country. It criticised Saar's visit as "a serious violation of Somalia's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political unity", and "unacceptable interference in the country's internal affairs".
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Torn history
Somaliland lies in north-western Somalia, in the Horn of Africa along the strategic Gulf of Aden in the Red Sea. It shares land borders with Ethiopia, Djibouti and the rest of Somalia.
Up until the 18th century, the Somali region consisted of independent sultanates and clan-based societies, with limited Ottoman influence along parts of the coast. Eventually, European powers started establishing ports and trade agreements in the region too.
Following the Berlin Conference of 1884-85 and the "Scramble for Africa", France, Britain and Italy moved to formalise their presence in the Horn of Africa.
Britain declared a protectorate over north-western Somalia – today's Somaliland – in 1887, while Italy established control over southern and north-eastern Somalia from 1889. France's influence centred around the Gulf of Tadjoura, now part of Djibouti.
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Somaliland remained a British protectorate for the first part of the 20th century, but Somali nationalist movements grew in the 1940s and '50s. When Somaliland declared independence on 26 June 1960, followed by Italian-controlled Somalia on 1 July, they formed one country.
But over the years, Somalilanders had kept their English-speaking habits and different administrative rules. And under the increasingly authoritarian regime of Siad Barre, the military commander who seized power in 1969, Somalilanders were victims of repression.
With the fall of Barre in January 1991 and the beginning of a civil war, the region declared independence again.
Strategic location, strategic timing
Ever since, Somaliland has governed itself independently and organised its own elections.
It has long sought formal recognition as an independent state, signing bilateral agreements with a handful of foreign governments on investments and security coordination.
Since the election of President Abdullahi in December 2024, the region has made bolder attempts to pursue recognition from the international community, especially towards United States President Donald Trump.
This is when Israel started looking at a partnership with Somaliland, including recognition.
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"Due to its strategic location on the shores of the Gulf of Aden, the territory of today’s Somaliland has drawn geopolitical attention from great powers for a long time," writes Nasir M Ali, an international relations expert and former director of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Hargeisa, in a new handbook on Somaliland.
Analysts believe that an alliance between Israel and Somaliland is particularly advantageous for Israel because of its strategic position across the Red Sea from Yemen, where Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, have carried out numerous attacks against Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
Ali told RFI that Somalilanders were overwhelmingly in favour of the partnership. "They've been waiting for recognition for decades, and now is the time," he said. "The strategic reasons are strong, and others in the Muslim world have already re-allied Israel."
'Not in a position to choose'
Abdullahi had suggested last month that Somaliland join the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered by the Trump administration in 2020 that saw the United Arab Emirates – a close partner of Somaliland – Bahrain and then Morocco establish ties with Israel.
Israel's decision to recognise Somaliland also follows two years of increasingly strained ties with many of its closest partners over its war in Gaza.
"Somaliland is and has been a stable democracy for almost 35 years," the Israeli foreign minister said, and "it is pro-Western and a friend of Israel".
Israel's government has also advocated for what officials describe as voluntary Palestinian migration from Gaza. But Somaliland has denied that the Israel recognition agreement allows it to establish military bases, or to resettle Palestinians from Gaza in the region.
"We are not in a position to choose," Hersi Ali Haji Hassan, chairman of the ruling Waddani party, told Al Jazeera this week. "We are in a state of necessity for official international recognition.
"There is no choice before us but to welcome any country that recognises our existential right."
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A risky partner
Some analysts argue, however, that Israel's support could harm Somaliland's hopes for wider recognition.
After Saar's visit to Hargeisa, the African Union called for the "immediate revocation" of Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, calling for respect of Somalia's territorial integrity.
The European Union, China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have also condemned the recognition, fearing growing insecurity in the Red Sea.
"Israel's recognition could be seen as not the best place to start among African and Muslim partners of Somaliland," Ali suggests, "but it could also seduce countries like Ethiopia and other potential partners."
That would be a game changer for Somalia, he says, for East Africa and for the entire region.
