The United Nations Security Council will meet in emergency session today to address Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, the first UN member state to do so. Israel’s move has attracted almost universal condemnation, for good reason.
‘Does anyone know what Somaliland is, really?’
When Binyamin Netanyahu announced last Friday that Israel was recognising Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state”, Somalia described the decision as a deliberate attack on its sovereignty that would undermine regional peace.
The African Union, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said the move was a clear violation of international law, affirming that Somaliland remained an integral part of Somalia.
The European Union said respect for Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity was key for the peace and stability of the entire Horn of Africa region. Donald Trump told the New York Post that the United States would not be following Israel in recognising Somaliland.
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“Does anyone know what Somaliland is, really?” he added.
Situated across the Gulf of Aden from southern Yemen, Somaliland is close to the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow chokepoint that links the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. It was this strategic position that made the territory attractive to Britain, which ruled it from the late 19th century until independence in 1960.
Five days after it became independent, Somaliland formed a union with Somalia, which had been under Italian control. But it was not a happy arrangement and after years of civil war, Somaliland declared independence in 1991.
Unlike Somalia, which has struggled amid continuing violence to establish central governmental authority, Somaliland has enjoyed a calm security environment and stable politics with the peaceful transfer of power between parties. Somaliland has its own currency and flag and it enjoys economic and strategic investment relationships with Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, Djibouti and Taiwan, while the US, Britain and some EU countries have representative offices there.
Nobody has been willing to recognise Somaliland as a state until now primarily because of concerns about regional destabilisation and the precedent it would set for other separatist movements in Africa. The African Union has a policy of respecting colonial-era borders in order to avoid the conflict likely to follow attempts to redraw boundaries across the continent.
In the past, Israel was reluctant to recognise Somaliland because of the precedent it could set for Palestine but the recognition of Palestinian statehood is now so widespread as to make that concern irrelevant. Somaliland was among a number of countries floated a few months ago as a possible destination for Palestinians forcibly displaced from Gaza but the proposal is deeply unpopular in the African territory and unlikely to be realised.
A report last month for the Institute for National Security Studies, a national security think tank in Tel Aviv, outlined Somaliland’s strategic value for Israel. Its coastline lies only a few hundred kilometres from parts of Yemen controlled by the Houthis, who have successfully resisted attempts by the Saudis, the Americans and the Israelis to neutralise them as a military force.
“Somaliland’s location – and the possibility of operating from its territory – could be a game changer,” it said.
“Somaliland could serve as a forward base for a range of missions: intelligence collection and monitoring of the Houthis and their military build-up; logistical support for Yemen’s internationally recognized government in its war against the Houthis; and direct operations, from offensive actions to intercepting Houthi attacks at sea or by [unmanned aerial vehicles].”
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi on Saturday warned Israel against using Somaliland as a base, saying that any Israeli presence there would be viewed as a military target. And although Somalia is unlikely to take military action in response to the recognition of Somaliland, Al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based al-Qaeda affiliate, said on Saturday that it would fight any attempt by Israel “to claim or use” parts of the territory.
Israel’s recognition could be a breakthrough for Somaliland if other countries, particularly the US, follow suit. But if Trump holds back, Friday’s move could leave both Somaliland and Israel more isolated than before.
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