{"id":128011,"date":"2026-01-06T19:09:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/israels-foreign-minister-on-historic-visit-to-somaliland\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T19:09:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:09:25","slug":"israels-foreign-minister-on-historic-visit-to-somaliland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/israels-foreign-minister-on-historic-visit-to-somaliland\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s Foreign Minister on historic visit to Somaliland"},"content":{"rendered":"

HARGEISA, Jan 6 \u2013 Israel\u2019s Foreign Minister has held talks with Somaliland\u2019s president on his first visit to the breakaway region since Israel controversially recognised it as an independent country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gideon Saar said Israel was determined to advance relations with Somaliland \u201cwith momentum\u201d, while President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi hailed his visit as a \u201cbig day\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last month Israel became the first country in the world to recognise Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia more than 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

Somalia sees Somaliland as being part of its territory, and condemned Saar\u2019s visit as \u201cunacceptable interference\u201d in its affairs.<\/p>\n

Saar posted on X that his talks with Abdullahi focused on the \u201centirety of our relations\u201d.<\/p>\n

He also addressed the backlash to Israel recognising Somaliland as an independent state, saying the decision was not made \u201cagainst anyone\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly Israel will determine for itself who it recognises,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

In a statement released by his office, Abdullahi said Israel had taken a \u201ccourageous decision\u201d and Somaliland would cooperate with it in the \u201cstrategic interest\u201d.<\/p>\n

Saar said Abdullahi has accepted an invitation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjmain Netanyahu to visit Israel, but the Somaliland leader\u2019s office did not confirm this.<\/p>\n

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, after the overthrow of Somali military dictator Siad Barre.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s recognition of Somaliland last month came as a surprise, with Netanyahu citing Somaliland\u2019s \u201cright to self-determination\u201d.<\/p>\n

This move sparked international condemnation and prompted an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n

China, Turkey and the African Union were among those criticising Israel\u2019s step, while the European Union said Somalia\u2019s sovereignty should be respected.<\/p>\n

The US defended Israel, accusing its critics of double standards.<\/p>\n

Somaliland hopes that Israel\u2019s decision will have a domino effect, and other states will recognise its independence.<\/p>\n

But on Saturday, India\u2019s foreign ministry dismissed as \u201cfake\u201d claims on social media that it intends to do so.<\/p>\n

Abdullahi has said Somaliland would join the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered by the Trump administration in 2020, which saw a number of Arab states officially establish ties with Israel.<\/p>\n

Israel has pledged to cooperate with Somaliland in agriculture, health, technology and the economy.<\/p>\n

Analysts say there are strategic reasons for Israel\u2019s declaration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael requires allies in the Red Sea region for many strategic reasons, among them the possibility of a future campaign against the Houthis,\u201d Israeli think tank the Institute for National Security Studies said, referring to Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed rebels, in a paper last month.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HARGEISA, Jan 6 \u2013 Israel\u2019s Foreign Minister has held talks with Somaliland\u2019s president on his first visit to the breakaway region since Israel controversially recognised it as an independent country. Gideon Saar said Israel was determined to advance relations with Somaliland \u201cwith momentum\u201d, while President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi hailed his visit as a \u201cbig day\u201d. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}