Khaberni - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the president of the region known as the separatist Somaliland, Abdurahman Mohamed Abdullah, signed a "strategic declaration" for cooperation on Monday evening.
The Israeli Channel 15 reported that Netanyahu and the Somaliland president held a meeting in Jerusalem, and signed a "strategic declaration", without revealing further details.
The agreement aims to establish a strategic relationship and enhance bilateral cooperation, as reported by the Israeli channel citing the head of the separatist region.
Last Sunday, the president of the separatist region in Somalia arrived in Israel for his first announced visit of this kind which lasted for two days, during which he also met with the Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
In a related context, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today, Monday, the opening of an embassy in occupied Jerusalem for the internationally unrecognized separatist region.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated that relations between both sides had begun before the opening of the embassy, noting that there was a direct communication channel that he had previously established with the president of the separatist region.
He added: "We highly appreciate that Somaliland is the eighth country to take this important step, and I believe that more countries will follow suit in the near future," he claimed.
Saar references the openings of embassies by the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, and Fiji in Jerusalem.
In December 2025, Israel announced its recognition of the separatist region, which was rejected by the federal government in Mogadishu, and sparked widespread regional and international criticism of Tel Aviv.
This move provoked warnings about the possibility that Israel might attempt to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to it, where about 2.4 million Palestinians live.
Before this recognition, the region, since its declaration of separation from Somalia in 1991, had not received any official recognition and has been functioning administratively, politically, and security-wise as an independent entity.
