Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland Sparks Global Outcry and Emergency UN Meeting

Jerusalem’s bold move ignites Horn-of-Africa crisis

Jerusalem, 03:00 a.m. local—In the hush before dawn, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen signed a two-page document that instantly rewrote the map of the Horn of Africa. By 03:07, the ministry’s Twitter account posted a single line: “Israel officially recognizes the Republic of Somaliland.” Within minutes, the tweet was viewed 3.4 million times, and the world’s phones began to vibrate.

Inside the scramble at the UN

By 04:30 New York time, the UN Security Council’s emergency alert system crackled to life. Envoys from Arab states, the African Union and permanent members traded barbed remarks in a closed-door session called by Somalia’s ambassador, who branded the move “a dagger in the heart of African unity.”

“Recognizing a breakaway region without Mogadishu’s consent is not diplomacy—it is destabilization,” said one senior Arab delegate, visibly shaking as he left the chamber.

Why Somaliland matters

Somaliland has governed itself from Hargeisa since 1991, but no country—until now—has accepted its self-declared independence. The territory sits astride the Bab el-Mandeb strait, through which 10 percent of global maritime trade flows. Israeli officials, speaking on background, said the recognition opens a “strategic corridor” linking the Red Sea to the Emirates, a route increasingly vital after recent Houthi attacks on shipping.

Regional fallout

• Somalia: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud recalled his ambassador to Tel Aviv and vowed to lobby the Arab League for sanctions.
• Egypt & Ethiopia: Both nations fear a precedent that could embolden separatist movements in Sinai and Tigray.
• Turkey: Ankara, which trains Somali troops, called the recognition “a red line” and suspended a planned naval exercise with Israel.

Global reactions

Washington urged “restraint and dialogue,” while Beijing warned against “unilateral changes to the African status quo.” Moscow’s deputy UN envoy hinted the issue could spill into Ukraine-linked negotiations, noting, “Those who redraw borders must remember Crimea.”

Street voices

In Hargeisa, fireworks lit the midnight sky. “We have waited 32 years to hear someone say, ‘You exist,’” said Naima Ahmed, a 24-year-old university student waving a Somaliland flag. In Mogadishu, protesters burned tires outside the shuttered Israeli liaison office, chanting, “One Somalia, indivisible.”

What happens next

Diplomats expect a draft UN resolution demanding withdrawal of recognition, though U.S. and U.K. veto threats make passage unlikely. Meanwhile, Israeli businesses are already exploring Berbera port deals; a delegation is scheduled to land next week, Somaliland officials confirmed. Analysts warn any economic boom could be fleeting if violence flares along the disputed border between Somaliland and Somalia’s Puntland region.

As the sun rose over the Red Sea, one thing was clear: a signature in Jerusalem had reopened one of Africa’s oldest wounds—and the world is now watching to see who bleeds next.