summarized by Dawan Africa – 31 December 2025
An article published by TRT World argues that Israel’s recognition of Somaliland cannot be understood as an isolated or sudden diplomatic move. Rather, it should be seen as part of a long historical pattern in Zionist thinking that has sought alternative territories and pursued demographic engineering, particularly during periods when the Zionist project in Palestine faced political constraints or obstacles.
In a move that drew widespread international condemnation, Israel became the first country to formally recognise Somaliland as an independent sovereign state. Although Somaliland unilaterally seceded from Somalia in 1991, it has not been recognised by either the United Nations or the African Union. The Somali government, backed by African consensus, maintains that Somaliland is an integral part of Somali territory.
According to the article, the recognition has intensified existing fears that Somaliland could be used as a potential destination for the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza amid the ongoing war. More critically, the move has revived an old debate about the geographical scope of Zionist ambitions and whether they extend beyond historic Palestine.
In Somalia, Israel’s decision was not viewed as a routine foreign policy act. Protests erupted in Mogadishu and other cities, where demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans in support of national unity. These reactions, the article notes, reflect a widespread belief that Israel’s move fits into a broader historical context of land appropriation and demographic engineering.
The article draws on historical documents from the 1930s and 1940s showing that Zionist expansion beyond Palestine was openly discussed in earlier decades. Among them is a proposal associated with the so-called “Harrar Council,” which called for the settlement of European Jews in Ethiopia’s Harrar region, while using ports in British Somaliland as a strategic maritime outlet.
One key document, written in 1942 by Jewish activist Hermann Fuernberg, explicitly proposed merging the Harrar region with part of British Somaliland to establish a state for European Jews. Fuernberg argued that the local population was “not likely to raise great difficulties” and insisted that every Jew should have the right to enter this proposed state, whether by choice or compulsion.
Although such proposals remained peripheral to the official Zionist project, the article contends that they reveal an early settler-colonial mindset—one based on altering demographic realities through organised migration and imposing dominance over local populations. Many observers believe echoes of this mindset persist today.
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The article further cites writings from Jewish publications in the 1930s, including a 1939 piece in The Canadian Jewish Chronicle, which argued that Palestine could not absorb large numbers of Jewish migrants and called for Ethiopia to be opened to Jewish colonisation. Africa, the paper claimed, offered fertile land and vast resources for a Jewish homeland.
It also recalls a 1943 announcement by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency regarding the establishment of a “Council for an Autonomous Jewish Province in Harrar,” aimed at facilitating Jewish settlement in Harrar and adjacent areas of British Somaliland under political autonomy.
Turning to the present, the article links these historical precedents to Israel’s 2025 recognition of Somaliland, announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call with Somaliland’s self-styled president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, and framed as an expansion of cooperation in agriculture, health, and technology.
However, Somalia and many other states view this justification as a cover for deeper strategic objectives, particularly Israel’s ambitions in the Red Sea. Analysts argue that engagement with Somaliland could give Israel strategic access near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait—one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
The article also refers to reports from 2025 suggesting that Israel and the United States explored options with several countries, including Somaliland, to resettle nearly two million Palestinians displaced by the war in Gaza. These reports prompted the Palestinian Foreign Ministry to support Somalia’s position and accuse Israel of using its recognition of Somaliland to facilitate forced displacement and ethnic cleansing.
In the same context, the Arab League, the African Union, as well as Egypt, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and many other states rejected Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, warning that it could pave the way for forced population transfers and draw the Horn of Africa into new geopolitical conflicts.
The TRT World article concludes that the issue of recognising Somaliland goes far beyond the region itself. It represents a test of international law, state sovereignty, and the global repercussions of the Palestinian–Israeli conflict.
Between historical documents reflecting long-standing ambitions and contemporary political and security fears, many see Israel’s recognition as another chapter in a trajectory that has persisted for more than a century.
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