Israel Recognises Somaliland as Independent State

Israel has become the first country to officially recognise the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state.

• Israel has become the first country to officially recognise the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state — a decision that could reshape regional dynamics and test long-standing opposition to Somaliland’s separation from Somalia.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would seek immediate cooperation with Somaliland in agriculture, health, technology and the economy. In a statement, he congratulated Somaliland’s President, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, praised his leadership and invited him to visit Israel.
• Netanyahu said that this announcement was “in line with the spirit of the Abraham Accords signed at the initiative of President Trump.”
• The 2020 agreements were brokered by the first administration of US President Donald Trump and formalised diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, with other countries later joining.
• Abdullahi said in a statement that Somaliland would join the Abraham Accords and described it as a step towards regional and global peace.

Somaliland

• Since Somalia descended into civil war in 1991, Somaliland has enjoyed effective autonomy — and relative peace and stability — but has failed to gain recognition from any other country.
• Somaliland has a strategic location on the Gulf of Aden and has its own currency, passport and police force. With a population of about six million, this self-declared republic has recently been at the centre of several regional disputes involving Somalia, Ethiopia and Egypt.
• It is a partially recognised state in the Horn of Africa. It is located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and is bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Ethiopia to the south and west, and Somalia to the east.
• The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. Somaliland hosts representative offices of several countries, including Ethiopia and Taiwan.

History of Somaliland

• In the late 19th century, the United Kingdom signed treaties with various clans of the region, establishing the Somaliland Protectorate, which was formally granted independence by the United Kingdom as the State of Somaliland on 26 June, 1960.
• Five days later, the State of Somaliland voluntarily united with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (former Italian Somalia) to form the Somali Republic. The independence struggle ended with the declaration of Somaliland’s independence in 1991.

Horn of Africa

• Also known as the Somali Peninsula, it is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in eastern Africa. Located at the easternmost part of the African mainland, it is the world’s fourth-largest peninsula.
• It includes Somaliland, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is described as a region of geopolitical and strategic importance because it lies at the southern boundary of the Red Sea; stretching hundreds of kilometres across the Gulf of Aden, the Guardafui Channel and the Indian Ocean, it also shares a maritime boundary with the Arabian Peninsula.