{"id":158973,"date":"2026-06-14T05:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T05:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/158973\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T05:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T05:43:09","slug":"somaliland-president-abdullahi-to-visit-israel-in-historic-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/158973\/","title":{"rendered":"Somaliland President Abdullahi to visit Israel in historic first"},"content":{"rendered":"

Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi and Somaliland First Lady Fardowsa Mohamed Roble are set to arrive in Israel on Sunday for a landmark state visit, opening a new chapter in relations between the two countries.<\/p>\n

It is the first by a Somaliland head of state and the first since Jerusalem formally recognized Somaliland’s independence in December 2025.<\/a><\/p>\n

Abdullahi had originally planned to make his first official visit<\/a> to Israel at the end of March, The Jerusalem Post reported in February, citing two sources familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

Even so, this will not be his first time in the country. The president previously made a discreet visit to Israel during earlier diplomatic contacts that led to Israel’s formal recognition of Somaliland in December 2025.<\/p>\n

The current visit will include the opening of Somaliland’s embassy in Jerusalem and a series of government meetings aimed at expanding cooperation in security, trade, water technology, renewable energy, and regional development.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe flag of Somaliland is seen during a campaign rally of the main opposition party Waddani in Hargeisa on November 8, 2024, ahead of the 2024 Somaliland presidential election. (credit: Photo by LUIS TATO\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Somaliland\u2019s president and first lady will receive an official welcome ceremony from President Isaac Herzog<\/a> and First Lady Michal Herzog at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem at 11:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

Following this, Abdullahi is scheduled for a diplomatic meeting with Herzog and to attend a state luncheon alongside Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.<\/p>\n

Later in the day, Abdullahi is slated to lay a wreath at Mount Herzl, visit Yad Vashem, and plant a tree with the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) at the Grove of Nations.<\/p>\n

Sunday will conclude with a dinner bringing together senior representatives of Israel’s business community, reflecting both sides’ efforts to deepen economic ties.<\/p>\n

Somaliland’s Jerusalem embassy to open on Monday<\/p>\n

On Monday, Abdullahi will hold talks with Sa’ar and later meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

The highlight of the visit is expected on Monday evening, with the official opening of Somaliland’s embassy, marking the establishment of full diplomatic relations following Israel’s recognition of Somaliland’s sovereignty.<\/p>\n

According to officials familiar with the program, Abdullahi will remain in Israel until Thursday to meet with ministers, government officials, and business leaders.<\/p>\n

He is also expected to visit the Knesset and the Nova music festival memorial site, while holding discussions with Israeli companies specializing in water management and renewable energy technologies.<\/p>\n

Supporters of closer ties between the two countries argue that cooperation between Israel and Somaliland<\/a> could strengthen economic development, maritime security, and technological innovation, while providing Somaliland with expanded international engagement.<\/p>\n

Shir Perets and Miriam Sela-Eitam contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi and Somaliland First Lady Fardowsa Mohamed Roble are set to arrive in Israel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[41,989,817,21078,5740,3987,37,7585],"class_list":["post-158973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-diplomacy","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-foreign-embassy","tag-gideon-saar","tag-isaac-herzog","tag-israel","tag-somaliland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116746872572896312","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}