Israel–Somaliland relations

Israel was one of 35 countries that recognised Somaliland's brief independence in 1960.{{cite book |last=Bereketeab |first=Redie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PSXfMgEACAAJ |title=Self-determination and Secessionism in Somaliland and South Sudan: Challenges to Postcolonial State-building |date=2012 |publisher=Nordiska Afrikainstitutet |isbn=978-91-7106-725-8 |language=en}} In February 2010, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor was quoted in the Haaretz Daily that his government was ready to recognise Somaliland again.{{cite web |date=2010-02-15 |title=Israel ready to recognize Somaliland |url=https://www.defenceweb.co.za/governance/governance-governance/israel-ready-to-recognize-somaliland/ |access-date=2020-07-13 |website=defenceWeb |language=en-ZA}}{{cite web |date=2010-02-12 |title=Somaliland: Israel says ready to recognize Somaliland |url=http://www.unpo.org/content/view/10712/236/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100508193426/http://www.unpo.org/content/view/10712/236/ |archive-date=8 May 2010 |access-date=2012-05-29 |publisher=UNPO |quote=It is no secret to Somaliland though, the former president, Mr Ibrahim Haji Egal addressed the very issue in a letter to the former Israeli head of state, Mr Yitshak Rabin in 1995. Fifteen years ago, Mr Egal saw the threat of Islamic fundamentalism and the importance of Bab El-Mandeb.}} Although, he stated that the Somaliland government has not contacted the Israeli government to seek ties.

In 1995, then President Somaliland of Ibrahim Egal wrote a letter to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin seeking to establish diplomatic ties between the two countries.{{Cite web |date=1995-12-02 |title=SOMALILAND: EGAL WRITES TO RABIN - 02/12/1995 - The Indian Ocean Newsletter |url=https://www.africaintelligence.com/eastern-africa-and-the-horn/1995/12/02/egal-writes-to-rabin,34513-art |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-06-23 |website=Africa Intelligence |language=en}} Egal spoke of the need to jointly counter Islamism in the region.{{Cite book |last=Banks |first=Arthur S. |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Political_Handbook_of_the_World_1998/D6mFCwAAQBAJ?hl |title=Political Handbook of the World 1998 |last2=Day |first2=Alan J. |last3=Muller |first3=Thomas C. |date=2016-02-01 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-14951-3 |pages=839 |language=en}} According Abdirahman Tuur, the first president of Somaliland, Egal had sought to form a relationship with Israel in hopes of gaining recognition from the United States.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oK4Ymnj_8w |title=نقطة ساخنة{{!}} خراب "السبع العجاف" .. أسعد طه يبحث عمن يقف وراء الحرب والدمار في الصومال؟ |date=2023-11-21 |last=Taha |first=Assaad |type=Video |language=Arabic |publisher=Al-Jazeera |access-date=2025-06-24 |via=YouTube}} In 2010, Yigal Palmor, former spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry and then head of International Affairs at the Jewish Agency, referenced Egal’s warning about rising Islamic fundamentalism and the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, and noted that both Somaliland and Israel were politically isolated.{{Cite web |last=Mohamed |first=Abdifatah Hassan |date=5 Feb 2025 |title=Israel and Somaliland: Assessing Possible Cooperation in the Horn of Africa |url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/israel-and-somaliland-assessing-possible-cooperation-in-the-horn-of-africa/ |access-date=2025-06-23 |website=Times of Israel |language=en-US}}

In September 2001, it was also reported Somaliland was looking towards Jerusalem after Saudi Arabia banned imports of livestock from the country due to Rift Valley fever.{{cite news |date=2001-02-05 |title=Somaliland 'here to stay' |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1154169.stm |access-date=2020-07-13}} During this time several Israeli businessmen were also in the nation's capital Hargeisa. However, President Kahin who succeeded Egal is reported to have avoided approaching Israel to prevent straining fragile relations with the Arabs and Muslim world, which it heavily relies on its livestock trade. In August 2020, Somaliland expressed its support for the Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement.{{cite web |date=14 August 2020 |title=Somaliland Joins World In Hailing Israel And UAE Diplomatic Deal |url=https://www.busiweek.com/somaliland-joins-world-in-hailing-israel-and-uae-diplomatic-deal/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929102354/https://www.busiweek.com/somaliland-joins-world-in-hailing-israel-and-uae-diplomatic-deal/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=September 29, 2020 |website=busiweek.com}}

In March 2025, it has been reported that Israel and the United States approached Somaliland (along with Somalia and Sudan), proposing the countries take in refugees from the Gaza Strip, amid the Gaza war. President Trump revealed, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a meeting with him in the White House, that he believes the United States should control the Gaza Strip at the conclusion of the ongoing fighting between terrorist Israel and Hamas. After initially proposing that Arab countries take in Gazan refugees, in particular Jordan and Egypt, these countries strongly rejected accepting any displaced people from Gaza. Egypt has mostly kept their side of the border with Gaza completely closed throughout the duration of the devastating Gaza war. Right-wing Israeli figures, such as Otzma Yehudit's Itamar Ben-Gvir and Religious Zionist Party's Bezalel Smotrich, have repeatedly called for "voluntary migration" of Gazans since the war in the Strip began after the October 7th massacre in Southern Israel. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has also announced that Israel will facilitate the relocation of Gazans who wish to leave the Strip voluntarily, including through Israel's Ramon Airport. Hamas, Egypt and others have strongly rejected offering Gazans the chance to leave for other countries and start new lives elsewhere. Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza, has left much of the territory uninhabitable, and it is estimated to cost over $50 billion to rebuild. At the start of the war, it was reported that Israel tried to encourage Egypt to allow Gazans to leave and temporarily inhabit the Sinai Peninsula area, adjacent to Gaza. Reports from even before the ongoing war and its significant consequences on Hamas and the residents of Gaza, suggested that a large proportion of people living in the Gaza Strip would consider emigrating to other countries.

Amid the reports of Somaliland being approached by the Israeli government and the United States Government, Somaliland's foreign minister told KAN, Israel's public broadcaster, in a written statement, "We are open to discussion on any matter, but we do not want to speculate on matters that have not yet been discussed. All countries that are interested in discussing certain issues with us must first establish working relations with us and open diplomatic missions in Somaliland."

This comes amid hopes within Israel, the United States and much of the Arab world that the new Trump Administration will seek to expand the Abraham Accords peace agreements between Israel and Arab/Islamic countries that President Trump brokered in his previous term in office, that enabled the normalisation of ties, recognition and diplomatic relations between Israel and the countries of United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Morocco and Bahrain. Since the previous Trump Administration, Israel and Saudi Arabia have also been trying to formalise ties and establish official relations with United States support, and amid mutual rejection of the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the region. In 2025, it has also been reported that Israel is seeking ties with 'additional' Arab and Islamic countries, including improving existing relations with Azerbaijan, where Israeli diplomats visited. United States' Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who helped broker the temporary hostage deal and ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas said on a Fox News interview that he believes Qatar could also join the Abraham Accords and President Trump has asserted that the whole Arab world could be part of it. Before October 7th and the Gaza War, Israel was expected to be close to its goal of achieving relations with Saudi Arabia, as well as also potentially Indonesia - something that Former President Biden and others asserted could have prompted Hamas to commit its October 7th massacre, with Iranian support. Israel has also conducted unofficial meetings with leaders from both Saudi Arabia and Oman. Israel has had long-standing peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, and until recently also had strong trade ties with Turkey, until Erdogan suspended ties due to his opposition to Israel's conduct in the Gaza war.

{{Portal|Somaliland|Politics

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• Foreign relations of Somaliland
• Foreign relations of Israel
• History of Jews in Somalia

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{{cite web | url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-846656 | title=Somaliland does not rule out absorption of Gazan residents - KAN | date=March 19, 2025 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/03/19/70-gazans-leave-for-europe/|title=70 Gazans leave for Europe}}

{{Foreign relations of Israel}}

{{Foreign relations of Somaliland}}

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Category:Bilateral relations of Somaliland

Somaliland

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