The African Union called for the “immediate revocation” of Israel’s official recognition of Somaliland, as the Israeli foreign minister made his first visit to the breakaway region on Tuesday.
Israel last month became the first country in the world to recognize Somaliland’s independence from Somalia, sparking condemnation from the AU and the European Union, as well as countries including China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. The move also triggered an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, with fears over what the recognition might mean for security in the Horn of Africa.
Washington, however, has defended Israel’s right to recognize Somaliland, with calls mounting in recent months for the Trump administration to do the same.
Somaliland’s strategic location opposite Yemen and key Red Sea waterways is “the main interest of Netanyahu’s regime,” an expert wrote in African Arguments, as it tries “to gain a hegemonic position as a military power in the Middle East and strategically around the Arab Peninsula.”