In a phone call with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was acknowledging Somaliland’s “right of self-determination”.
He also said official recognition would be “a great opportunity for expanding” the countries’ partnership.
However analysts say there are strategic reasons for Israel’s declaration.
“Israel requires allies in the Red Sea region for many strategic reasons, among them the possibility of a future campaign against the Houthis,” Israeli think tank the Institute for National Security Studies said, referring to Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels, in a paper last month.
“Somaliland is an ideal candidate for such cooperation as it could offer Israel potential access to an operational area close to the conflict zone.”
Israel repeatedly struck targets in Yemen after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, in response to Houthi attacks on Israel that the rebels said were in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
In response to Israel recognising Somaliland, the Houthis warned that any Israeli presence in Somaliland would be considered a “military target” for their forces.
A few months ago, a number of news outlets reported that Israel had contacted Somaliland over the potential resettlement of Palestinians forcibly removed from Gaza.
Israel did not comment on the reports, but at the time, Somaliland said that any move by Israel to recognise its independence would not have anything to do with the Palestinian issue. Both Somalia and the Palestinian Authority have suggested Israel’s recognition of Somaliland could be linked to a plan to displace Palestinians.
“Somalia will never accept the people of Palestine to be forcibly evicted from their rightful land to a faraway place,” Somalia’s president told his parliament on Sunday.
Offering his perspective, US-based Africa analyst Cameron Hudson told the BBC that Israel has recognized Somaliland primarily because it is trying to counter Iran’s influence in the Red Sea region.
“The Red Sea is also a conduit for weapons and fighters to flow up the Red Sea into the Eastern Mediterranean. It has traditionally been a source of support and supply to fighters in Gaza. And so having a presence, having a security presence, having an intelligence presence at the mouth of the Red Sea only serves Israel’s national security interests,” he said.