Israel fetes Somaliland’s leader as it seeks to expand Red Sea influence

Israel rolled out a lavish state welcome for Somaliland’s president in Jerusalem, extending honours rarely accorded to the leader of a territory still unrecognised by any country other than Israel.

President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Cirro, arrived last Sunday for the first state visit by a Somaliland leader, six months after Israel became the first country to recognise the breakaway region’s independence from Somalia.

“I am here as the president of Somaliland for the first state visit ever,” Abdullahi told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting. “For 35 years we have been asking the world to see us. And Israel and you yourself were the first to see us and recognise us.”

Netanyahu framed the decision through the lens of Jewish history. “It is a very natural thing for us to do, because we remember as the Jewish people, a small people, who asked for the recognition of their rights from the world, so there is a natural sympathy to you,” he said.

The visit combined high-profile ceremony with what officials said where substantive discussions. A strategic cooperation agreement was signed alongside a series of meetings, underscoring both sides’ ambition to turn diplomatic recognition into a broader partnership encompassing security, trade and regional strategy.

Somaliland sits across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen and controls a long stretch of coastline overlooking one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors. As Netanyahu noted during a joint appearance with Abdullahi, its territory lies at the opposite end of the Red Sea, adjacent to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrow gateway linking the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and a critical artery for global trade.

-Al Jazeera