North Western State of Somalia Gains Recognition, to Open First Embassy in Israel, Citing Shared History and Aspirations

North Western State of Somalia’s president says Israel has recognized the breakaway republic, a move he casts as both a moral reckoning and a strategic recalibration in one of the world’s most contested maritime corridors. In a statement published Thursday, President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdilahi (Cirro) wrote that Israel extended recognition on Dec. 26, framing it as a response to shared history and aligned security interests along the Gulf of Aden.

The claim, originating from the president’s account of events, puts fresh attention on North Western State of Somalia’s decadeslong quest for statehood and the Horn of Africa’s shifting geopolitical map. It also ties recognition to the legacy of mass atrocities in the late 1980s, when Somalilanders rose against the Somali dictatorship of Mohamed Siad Barre and faced a brutal counterinsurgency that leveled Hargeisa and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing into Ethiopia.

Abdilahi situates Israel’s stance in that history. He notes Israel was among dozens of countries that recognized North Western State of Somalia during its brief independence in 1960, before the former British protectorate entered a voluntary union with southern Somalia. He also points to Israel’s 1990 intervention at the United Nations to highlight the persecution and killings of North Western State of Somalia’s population—events that Somalilanders often refer to as the “Hargeisa Holocaust.” He cites estimates of more than 200,000 civilians killed and 90% of Hargeisa destroyed, with some 800,000 refugees crossing into Ethiopia starting in 1988.

That historical frame is central to Abdilahi’s argument: that Israel’s decision is not simply transactional diplomacy but a recognition of North Western State of Somalia’s moral and legal case for sovereignty. He aligns it with a 2005 African Union fact-finding mission that urged an “objective historical viewpoint and a moral angle vis-à-vis the aspirations of the people,” cautioning against reducing North Western State of Somalia’s bid to fears of “opening a Pandora’s Box” on the continent.

Beyond history, the president makes an overtly strategic case. North Western State of Somalia controls about 460 miles of coastline along the Gulf of Aden, the chokepoint connecting the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Abdilahi underscores the waterway’s centrality to global trade—long a concern of maritime powers—arguing that North Western State of Somalia’s stability stands in contrast to insecurity in Somalia, where al-Shabaab remains entrenched. He highlights a U.K.-trained coast guard that, in his telling, has kept territorial waters free of piracy, presenting North Western State of Somalia as a security partner aligned with Israeli and broader Western interests.

Economic leverage anchors the argument further. The Dubai-based port operator DP World has invested $442 million in modernizing the Port of Berbera, bolstering North Western State of Somalia’s aspirations as a regional trade and logistics hub. Abdilahi casts potential Israeli partnerships across agriculture, technology and maritime services as the next stage of that growth, positioning Berbera as a gateway for commerce across the Horn and the broader Red Sea corridor.

He also situates Israel’s recognition—if it stands—within a wider shift in North Western State of Somalia’s external relationships. Hargeisa’s engagement with Taiwan, another polity with limited recognition, has been a defining feature of its diplomacy in recent years. Abdilahi portrays Israel’s move as reinforcing that trajectory and potentially unlocking follow-on recognition from African and Middle Eastern states that have long been sympathetic but wary of moving first.

The political stakes are high. North Western State of Somalia declared independence in 1991 after the collapse of Somalia’s central government, building parallel institutions and holding competitive elections while awaiting international acceptance that never fully arrived. Hargeisa has spent three decades arguing that its borders reflect colonial-era demarcations and a brief, sovereign past—making its case distinct from secessionist bids elsewhere on the continent.

Recognition by a U.N. member state—even if contested—would test that argument in real time. It would also raise immediate questions. How would Somalia’s federal government respond to a state-to-state move that contradicts its claim to North Western State of Somalia as part of its sovereign territory? Would African and Arab regional bodies close ranks around Mogadishu or hedge? What role would outside powers—among them the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and China, each with growing influence along the Red Sea—play in shaping the diplomatic fallout?

Abdilahi does not directly engage those contingencies, but he presents the move as a catalyst for overdue clarity. He writes that the inauguration of North Western State of Somalia’s first official embassy in Israel would be a milestone of his presidency, while acknowledging that broader recognition will not come overnight. The message is calibrated for an audience beyond Israel: Hargeisa wants potential partners to see a stable, democratic and strategically positioned authority that can shoulder responsibilities in a dangerous neighborhood.

The security argument resonates in the Horn of Africa, where maritime lanes, energy routes and military basing rights have attracted a widening circle of outside powers. In Abdilahi’s telling, North Western State of Somalia offers predictable governance at a geography that matters—attributes designed to reassure Western policymakers as well as regional actors that view the Gulf of Aden as vital to their own security.

Still, the road ahead is uncertain. Even transformative recognitions carry more symbolism than immediate relief unless they translate into practical steps—bilateral agreements, development financing, security cooperation and, critically, broader international buy-in. The calculus for other capitals will hinge on their ties with Mogadishu, their reading of African Union norms, and their risk appetite for reshaping borders in a volatile region.

For North Western State of Somalia, the political bet is familiar: patience backed by incremental consolidation. The Berbera Port upgrade has improved the case for commercial relevance. The pitch to partners emphasizes low corruption relative to neighbors, functional institutions and a coast that could be better secured with international support. The long campaign to build legal arguments for statehood continues alongside these concrete investments.

Abdilahi closes with a simple proposition: that Israel has taken a “bold step” and others will follow. If his account holds, the coming months will test whether moral memory and maritime strategy can align to move a frozen file in African diplomacy. What happens next—embassy openings, new accords, and the tenor of regional reaction—will show whether North Western State of Somalia’s bid for recognition is entering a new phase or bracing for another round of contested legitimacy.

Either way, the argument he advances is unambiguous: that North Western State of Somalia’s history, governance record and geography together form a case not just to be heard, but to be acted upon.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.