MOGADISHU: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visited Somaliland on Tuesday on a trip that was denounced by Somalia, 10 days after Israel formally recognized the self-declared republic as an independent and sovereign state.
Israel is the only country that has formally recognized Somaliland’s move to break away from Somalia, which described Israel’s decision on recognition as an “unlawful step” and said Saar’s visit as a “serious violation” of its sovereignty.
In a statement on X, Saar said that he had held talks “on the full range of relations” with Somaliland’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, in the capital Hargeisa.
“We are determined to vigorously advance relations between Israel and Somaliland,” Saar wrote on X, alongside images of him meeting the Somaliland leader at the presidential palace.
Somaliland’s information ministry earlier said on X that Saar was leading a high-level delegation. It gave no further details but a senior Somaliland official told Reuters before the meeting with the president that the Israeli foreign minister was expected to discuss ways to enhance bilateral ties.
Saar said Abdullahi had accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make an official visit to Israel.
Abdullahi said last month that Somaliland would join the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered by Washington in 2020 that saw Gulf states the UAE, a close partner of Somaliland, and Bahrain establish ties with Israel.
Somalia’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Saar’s visit amounted to “unacceptable interference” in its internal affairs.
It condemned “in the strongest terms the unauthorized incursion by the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs into Hargeisa,” stressing that the city is “an integral and inseparable part of the sovereign territory of the Federal Republic of Somalia.”
The ministry said the visit of Saar represented “a serious violation of Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political unity.”
Reaffirming its position on Somaliland, Mogadishu said Hargeisa forms an “inalienable part” of the internationally recognized territory of Somalia, adding that any official engagement conducted within Somali territory without the approval of the federal government is unlawful.
“Any official presence, contact, or engagement undertaken within Somali territory without the explicit consent and authorization of the Federal Government of Somalia is illegal, null, and void, and carries no legal validity or effect,” the statement said.
Somalia said such actions were inconsistent with international law, citing the United Nations Charter, the Constitutive Act of the African Union and established norms governing relations between states, including the principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, and non-interference.
The federal government called on Israel to “immediately cease all actions that undermine Somalia’s sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity,” and urged it to respect its obligations under international law.
It also appealed to the international community, including the UN, African Union, League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to “reaffirm, in clear and unequivocal terms, their principled support for Somalia’s sovereignty, unity, and internationally recognized borders.”
While reiterating its commitment to peaceful international engagement, constructive diplomacy, and adherence to international law, Somalia warned that it “reserves the right to take all appropriate diplomatic and legal measures” to safeguard its sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity.
Strategic location
Somaliland, once a British protectorate, has long sought formal recognition as an independent state although it has signed bilateral agreements with various governments on investments and security coordination.
Israel’s decision to recognize Somaliland follows two years of strained ties with many of its closest partners over the war in Gaza and policies in the West Bank.
Netanyahu has said Israel will pursue cooperation in agriculture, health, technology and the economy. Following his visit, Saar said “local professionals” from Somaliland’s water sector would visit Israel in the coming months for training.
Somaliland lies in northwestern Somalia, shares land borders with Ethiopia and Djibouti and sits across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, from where Iran-backed Houthis have launched missile and drones at Israel since October 2023, when the Gaza war began.
Omar Mahmood, a Somalia analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank, said Israeli engagement was probably driven by Somaliland’s strategic location but that security coordination was possible without Israeli military installations there.
Saar said on Tuesday that mutual recognition and the establishment of diplomatic ties was not directed at anyone.
Somaliland has denied recognition allows for Israel to establish military bases there or for the resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza. Israel has advocated for what Israeli officials describe as voluntary Palestinian migration from Gaza.
* With Reuters
