Israel lays embassy cornerstone in a capital Somalia claims
HARGEISA — Officials have laid the cornerstone for an Israeli embassy in Hargeisa after Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi accepted the credentials of Israel’s first ambassador, Michael Lotem. For Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991, it was the first time its president had formally received an ambassador from a United Nations member state that recognises it as independent. Somalia rejects the appointment and maintains that Hargeisa is part of its sovereign territory.
Israel’s foreign ministry announced the ceremonies on Sunday. They took place the previous week, ten months after Israel formally recognised Somaliland on 26 December 2025. Somaliland has since established an embassy in Jerusalem, and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the exchange of ambassadors fulfilled a commitment the two sides made when they established relations. Israel remains the only UN member state to have recognised Somaliland since its declaration of independence.
Somalia finds backing in Africa and beyond
Mogadishu has challenged each step towards formal relations. It condemned Sa’ar’s January visit to Hargeisa on the grounds that he had entered Somali territory without authorisation. When Israel announced its choice of diplomatic representative in April, the federal government said no part of Somalia could enter such an arrangement independently. The African Union Commission backed Somalia’s territorial integrity and warned that unilateral recognition risked setting a precedent elsewhere on the continent.
China publicly backed Somalia’s claim in January. Saudi Arabia and Türkiye joined other governments in May in condemning Somaliland’s decision to establish a mission in Jerusalem. Their objections also concerned the choice of city, while their joint statement explicitly supported Somalia’s internationally recognised borders.
Abdullahi offered a different account in Hargeisa, pointing to Somaliland’s position on the Gulf of Aden, across from Yemen and close to the Bab al-Mandeb shipping passage into the Red Sea. He told Lotem that this geography gave their relationship significance beyond the two governments. The cornerstone gives Israel a site for a permanent mission, but Somaliland’s wider diplomatic ambition still depends on whether another UN member follows Israel’s lead.
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