Israel deployed about 50 soldiers to Somaliland earlier this year, a senior Somali official told Middle East Eye on June 22, saying the soldiers were chosen for their African heritage—"especially Ethiopians"—to blend in with the local population. Israel’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the report as “FAKE NEWS,” and the military declined to comment.
Although this particular news is contested, the partnership behind Israel and Somaliland is openly admitted. Israel was the first and only UN member state to recognize the self-governing breakaway Somali region as independent, in December, and named Michael Lotem its first ambassador to Hargeisa in April. (Taiwan, itself not a UN member, has maintained official ties with Hargeisa since 2020.) Meeting Somaliland’s visiting president on June 17, Defense Minister Israel Katz acknowledged years of covert ties: “For many years, we cooperated under the radar in a series of operations that will remain classified. Now we are determined to bring our security cooperation to new heights.” Somaliland’s defense minister denied any Israeli “base” that same day but confirmed to Reuters that Israel is “training some of our police and military"; CNN reported June 5 that Somaliland had granted Israel an additional military site, potentially a refueling stop for long-range strikes on Iran.
The reason is geography. As we reported in March, Somaliland sits at the mouth of the Red Sea, across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, commanding the Bab el-Mandeb Strait—through which roughly a tenth of global shipping passes—and an area from which Israel could pursue its war on Yemen’s Houthis and extend its reach toward Iran.
