Israel Recognizes Somaliland, Defying China and Redrawing the Horn of Africa

Jerusalem Breaks Ranks

Hargeisa, Somaliland — When Israel’s foreign minister posted a three-line statement on X Tuesday night, coffee shops across this self-declared republic erupted. Within minutes, the green-white-red flag of Somaliland was waving from car windows in the capital, a scene one resident described as “our generation’s Berlin Wall moment.”

Why This Recognition Matters

For 32 years Somaliland has governed its own territory, printed its own currency, and even held six consecutive presidential elections. Yet not a single U.N. member has acknowledged its independence—until now. Israel’s move delivers the first diplomatic breakthrough for the former British protectorate, which voluntarily merged with Somalia in 1960 and later fought a bitter war to reclaim its sovereignty in 1991.

“We have waited three decades for a seat at the table,” Somaliland Foreign Minister Essa Kayd told reporters. “Today we are no longer the world’s best-kept secret.”

China’s Swift Rebuke

Beijing, a major investor in nearby Djibouti and Ethiopia, warned that recognizing Somaliland “undermines the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia.” Chinese diplomats threatened economic retaliation against both Israel and Somaliland, citing the African Union’s position that borders inherited from colonial powers must remain intact.

• China controls 17% of the port traffic in Berbera, Somaliland’s gateway to the Red Sea.
• Israeli firms recently secured a $1.2 billion infrastructure deal to modernize the same port.
• Analysts say the rivalry now stretches from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint.

What Happens Next

Diplomats in Addis Ababa and Nairobi are already asking the quiet question: will Taiwan-style recognition snowball? Sources inside Kenya’s foreign ministry say Nairobi is “studying options,” while U.S. congressional hawks are pushing for a symbolic hearing on Somaliland next month. The Somali government in Mogadishu, already battling al-Shabaab insurgents, called the Israeli announcement “a dangerous distraction.”

Back in Hargeisa, 19-year-old university student Nimo Ismail captured the mood: “My father fought in the war. My generation just got our first passport stamp—hope.”