This is not merely about “Somaliland”. This is about Africa and the principle that Somalia’s borders cannot be altered without the consent of its people and institutions.

Israel’s recognition of the self-declared “Republic of Somaliland” is a neocolonial exploitation project of a complex, deeply divided region in northwestern Somalia. It is a violation of Somalia’s sovereignty, unity, political independence and territorial integrity, as Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud rightly declared during an address to a special joint session of the two Houses of Federal Parliament in Mogadishu. President Mohamud further noted how Israel’s controversial and unilateral decision was a “threat to the security and stability of the world and the region.”

Another senior Somali Cabinet official demanded that Israel “abide by international law,” as international and regional organizations, including the UN, the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the African Union — all of which Somalia is a Member State — as well as the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), strongly declared opposition to Israel’s decision.

The Israeli move was also widely rejected across the globe, including in China, Nigeria, Pakistan, the UK and the US, where the State Department declared the US recognizes one Somalia “which includes the territory of Somaliland”. Israel’s tactical decision overlooks the inconsistency of its foreign policy, particularly when juxtaposed with Israel’s own refusal to recognize an independent Palestinian state. The UN called for an emergency session to discuss Israeli recognition of “Somaliland”, in a discussion entitled “Threats to International Peace and Security”.

No political observer of Somalia missed the underlying irony of Israel’s recognition of Somaliland. After 35 years searching for international recognition, Israel became the first and only UN Member State to recognize Somaliland, a sub-national entity in Somalia that unilaterally declared independence in 1991 after claiming that the former Barre dictatorship in Somalia committed the Isaaq genocide in the 1980s. The Isaaq are the predominant Somali clan group in the central regions of Somaliland, surrounded by Darod clan groups to the east and south and Dir clan groups to the west.

In October 2025, a UN inquiry found that Israel had committed four acts of genocide in Gaza. A demonstrably ironic political act is that the proclaimed victims of the Isaaq genocide celebrated recognition from a state that committed genocide in Palestine.

Israel’s motivating factors

Somalia’s greatest asset has always been one of its greatest curses. The country’s geographic location, at the crossroads of global shipping lines that connect Africa, Asia and Europe, continues to attract regional and global competition for power. Even before Israel’s unilateral recognition of Somaliland, which did not come as a surprise to political observers aware of Somaliland’s long quest for Israeli validation as a sovereign state, Taiwan had recognized Somaliland and established a de facto embassy in Hargeisa. So, why is Israel interested in setting up a foothold in Somaliland? To unpack this, we must first understand the regional context.

In their response, international actors sought to emphasize the importance and relevance of international law, grounded in legal and political principles that aim to prevent the recognition of separatist states in Africa, which could lead to deeper instability, ongoing secessionist claims, and the undermining of order and political cohesion, thereby destabilizing the entire African continent.

In addition, Africa has never allowed an external actor, Israel or otherwise, to lead formal recognition of any new African state, including the only two nation-states to gain independence in post-colonial Africa, namely Eritrea and South Sudan. In this respect, it is highly unlikely that African nations would follow Israel’s decision, which is motivated by its own strategic considerations, such as ongoing military conflicts with a number of regional actors, including Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, Iran and even the new leadership in post-Assad Syria.

In particular, Houthi maritime operations in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, forced shipping lines to reroute around Africa, “driving up transit times, insurance premiums, and energy costs”. This is one of Israel’s top strategic objectives in recognizing the separatist Somali region. The strategic location of northwestern Somalia’s proximity to the Bab al Mandab Strait, across from Yemen, provides Israel a military foothold to confront and potentially neutralize Houthi forces who have targeted the Israeli economy through maritime military operations.

Second, as voiced by Somali government official Ali Omar, one of Israel’s motivating factors is its pursuit of “the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza”. After two years of Israeli bombardment, targeted killings, and the destruction of critical infrastructure and the local economy of Palestinians in Gaza, leading to starvation, Israel proposed to relocate Palestinians to Somaliland as part of a wider strategy to forcefully dispossess Palestinians of their rightful homelands.

A third and equally important reason for Israel’s recognition of Somalia’s separatist region is to use Somaliland as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to join the Abrahamic Accords; recently, the Saudi leadership expressed openness to join the Accords, conditional on a “clear path” to the emergence of a Palestinian state. In future negotiations, it is entirely plausible for Israel to rescind its recognition of Somaliland if Saudi Arabia reverses its principled position in defense of a Palestinian state.

Israel’s decision also aims to use Somaliland as leverage against Turkish influence in Syria and East Africa. Türkiye has invested massively in Somalia since 2011, with Ankara and Mogadishu signing strategic military and commercial partnerships.

Fourth, Israel is also betting on capitalizing on existing infrastructure in the Port of Berbera, expanded under an investment agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2017, and on attracting American support by leveraging Berbera as a base to counter the Chinese military presence in neighboring Djibouti. Others have proposed that India can use Somaliland to also counter Chinese interests in Africa. Clearly, this is not about recognizing Somaliland as a self-governing “beacon of democracy” in an erstwhile volatile region, but rather as a pawn in a broader geopolitical war involving global and regional powers vying for strategic dominance, competing economic interests, and control over vital maritime routes and natural resources.

President Mohamud’s incoherent foreign policy has continually sent mixed signals to global capitals. While his administration maintains close relations with Türkiye and Qatar, unpredictable relations with Ethiopia, Egypt, the US, UK, EU and the UAE have been characterized by a lack of a principled and strategic foreign policy.

Somalia’s failed leadership

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud must resign in shame. A day before Israel’s unilateral recognition of “Somaliland”, President Mohamud’s administration organized the first direct municipal elections, which occurred peacefully in Mogadishu for the first time in nearly 60 years, celebrating a major political milestone. Israel recognized Somaliland the next day, abruptly curtailing President Mohamud’s celebratory mood. Mohamud has served as President of Somalia for eight of the last 13 years, wielding significant influence over the country’s political trajectory, including its foreign policy. He was first elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2022 after losing to Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo in the 2017 election. 

In 2020, then-President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo was on the verge of arriving in Hargeisa to meet the Somaliland leadership as part of a mediation effort led by the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed. The former Farmajo administration had offered a number of concessions to Somaliland, including constitutional reforms, joint management of aviation and even the position of Prime Minister uncontested for a period of ten years.

Unfortunately, President Mohamud did not continue those efforts, which began in 2012 and were mediated by the UK, Djibouti and Türkiye during different rounds of political negotiations; instead, since 2022, President Mohamud chose to ignore Somaliland or use empty words about brotherhood and unity, without any substance. As such, President Mohamud will bear major responsibility for failing to lead Somalia and uphold the country’s fragile unity and territorial integrity.

Domestically, President Mohamud’s strategy of empowering Mogadishu and ignoring other domestic stakeholders, including Puntland, Galmudug and Jubaland states, further deepened the political fragmentation in Somalia that facilitated exploitation by foreign powers, at the expense of the Somali people. Instead of fostering a consultative national process and embedding federalism, President Mohamud’s Mogadishu-centric political approach alienated key domestic stakeholders and propelled clan competition. His administration mismanaged and utilized international donor support as a political tool to empower political entities that support him and weaken opposition domestic actors.

Political representation and accountability were severely eroded, as his administration co-opted the two Houses of Federal Parliament, nominated ambassadors along clan lines and used military force in an attempt to dismantle the Jubaland state leadership, a move that failed with catastrophic consequences.

President Mohamud also failed to capitalize on the Las Anod uprising, when the Somaliland military launched indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure in Las Anod in 2023, sparking an eight-month conflict that led to the defeat of the Somaliland army, including the capture of Somaliland prisoners and seizure of military equipment. Mogadishu later recognized the Northeast State in 2025, which reduced “Somaliland’s territory to about 45% of the former British Somaliland” and has considerably weakened Somaliland’s claim to independence.

This was a moment for President Mohamud to reaffirm Somali unity, show the world that the territories Somaliland’s separatist leaders claim were not a monolithic entity, support pro-union forces in Las Anod, and condemn the military aggression and violence against civilians by the Somaliland forces. President Mohamud failed to make strategic decisions, remained indecisive, politically weak and lacked a clear vision on how to handle a national crisis, perhaps with his decision-making judgment clouded by political considerations and foreign influence. All these efforts weakened political cohesion, undermined the united front against armed extremist groups such as Al Shabaab, and deepened clan distrust and hostilities. 

Danger ahead

Israel does not understand the Somali people, nor can it be expected to. Israel reached a decision purely assessed through the prism of its own survivalist and security considerations, aiming to expand territorially through a process of violent colonialism in the name of self-defense. The Somalis are an ancient civilization that inhabits four countries in the Horn of Africa. There are conflicting historical, social, political, economic and security factors at play, both visible and invisible — not only within Somalia, but also within the boundaries Somaliland claims.

Israel’s narrow focus on the Bab al-Mandab, the Port of Berbera and regional powerplays fails to take a full view of the surrounding complexities: a legacy of dictatorship and civil war; clan boundaries; political conflicts; and extremist violence. Already, we are witnessing how global competitions, such as Ethiopia vs Egypt, China vs the US/India/Taiwan, Qatar vs the UAE and now, Türkiye vs Israel, just to name a few, are impacting and worsening internal rivalries. The loser on all sides is the Somali people, betrayed by a self-serving political class and blinded by ancient clan animosities.

This is not merely about Somaliland. This is about Africa and the principle that Somalia’s borders cannot be altered without the consent of its people and institutions. Upholding this principle is essential for long-term peace, national unity and democratic legitimacy — failure to do so risks creating new generations of radicalized youth, in Somaliland, most prominently. If not addressed correctly and urgently, we will witness worsening internal fractures and fragmentation, deeper economic decline and institutional instability unseen in the past 35 years.

The calls to defend Somalia’s dignity and boundaries are growing — being heard in every Somali-speaking household, that the enemies who seek to further divide and weaken this ancient nation are at the gates. This strategically failed approach undermines decades of US-led intervention learned and shaped through experience since the 1990s UN peacekeeping mission, founded on the policies of pragmatic engagement, tailored support and a hands-off approach to Somali internal politics, clan dynamics and balance of power.

Above all, the issue of “Somaliland” is a Somali issue before it is an African or regional issue. It is an unresolved, dormant volcano waiting to explode. Without a doubt, unless reversed, Israel’s move threatens to accelerate further instability, embolden clan violence, undermine regional security, and deepen radicalization and extremism unseen since the Ethiopian invasion of Mogadishu in 2006. We cannot predict the future, but we are certain of one thing: Somalis will violently reject colonialist exploitation in all its forms, as they have done in the past.

[Kaitlyn Diana edited this piece.]

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

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