On 26 December 2025 Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel announced the official recognition of Somaliland by his government. This sparked international debates. Some support Somaliland’s 35 years long quest for recognition. Others reject it. Jamal Abdi, a Somali analyst with ties to Somaliland, recently stressed that those commentators arguing that recognizing Somaliland could destabilize the Horn of Africa were not convincing. He added that Somaliland was stable, in contrast to Somalia, where Islamic terrorists would still wield considerable influence. Regarding Africa as a whole, which tends to reject the recognition of secessionist movements, Jamal Abdi mentioned that “Somaliland enjoyed de jure recognition of sovereignty prior to merging with Somalia. Recognizing Somaliland is therefore a restoration of the borders established during colonial rule, making Somaliland a unique legal case.”

Yet, Jamal Abdi fails to mention that the Somaliland recognised by Israel recently is not the same as the one which was let into independence by the British in June 1960. The British and the Italian administered territories united on 1 July 1960 to form the Somali Republic. The latter fell apart in 1991, as result of escalating civil war. Simultaneously, Somaliland unilaterally was declared independent at a conference in Bur’o under the auspices of northern Somalia guerrillas. Yet, not everyone in the northwest accepted the secession from collapsing Somalia. In fact, until today (early 2026) Somaliland is internally deeply divided over the question of (aspired) independence. This makes the recognition by Israel a complicated affair that indeed could lead to renewed civil strife in northern Somalia.

The “birth-defect” of Somaliland was that the secession was only preferred by one part of the population of the northwest. The members of the Isaaq-clan family, who also supported the rebels against the military dictatorship of Mohamed Siyad Barre (1969-1991) in the 1980s, were in favour of it. They had suffered from hard counter-insurgency measures including, in 1988, the bombardment of the cities Hargeysa and Bur’o, killing thousands and displacing hundreds of thousands. Isaaq constitute roughly two thirds of the local population and reside in central Somaliland. However, members of other clan-groups inhabiting the far west (Gadabursi and Ise) and the east........

© E-International